Completion

     Completion - that seems to be a goal in helping people who have been wrongfully injured, hurt at work, or who are disabled. This past week I competed in the Hawaii Ironman World Triathlon Championship. My article on the race and other links are here. The theme for this year’s event was "Kupau," Hawaiian for "Completion."

     The photo above is The Place of Refuge dating back to at least the 1500's. It was a spiritual place, a place for royalty, a place of safety, and a place where Kupau is obtained.

     In ancient Hawaii there was a sort of rite of passage in obtaining Kupau. It included demonstrating the seven traits of knowledge, understanding, wisdom, strength, inspiration, authority, and endurance. To me an interesting part of Kupau is that part of obtaining completion is the understanding that the journey regarding these traits continues. Most of us probably tend to think of completion as being an end, not a journey.

     Learning about Kupau had me reflecting a lot about what we do as a team at Lewis & Daggett. Certainly part of our culture of learning incorporates traits similar to the seven traits of Kupau. They are sort of common traits or areas of study for most major religions and philosophies throughout history. It would take a book or two to cover these subjects!

     Understanding that completion is part of the journey seems strikingly similar to what our clients and we frequently experience. The cases conclude, many times very favorably, and yet many times the injury, loss, or disability continues well beyond completion of the case. This is one reason why the continuing relationships are so important to us.

     I plan to continue to further reflect on the seven traits of Kupau, as well as to further understand that part of completion is understanding that the journey continues. Thanks for joining us.