Futurelawyer

Thinking About Death Isn't Maudlin...It's Rational

I admit that I was one of those who thought of death as little as possible, before my wife's passing. However, the Stoic concept of Memento Mori has changed the way I view it, in a good way. As Robert Greene says, in this very brief two minute interview, we are standing on the shore of a vast ocean, which is death. We are the only animals with an awareness of it. We need to avoid spending our time with cartoon versions of it, and hiding our repressed anxiety about it. We need to dive in and explore it, while we are alive, and see it for what it is, the natural progression of our lives. Once that happens, the fear becomes an overwhelming need to make the most of the time we have left. If you do nothing else today, watch these two minutes.

 

Meditations - Kindle edition by Marcus Aurelius.

Meditations - Kindle edition by Marcus Aurelius. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.. My Kindle PaperWhite arrived yesterday, and it has been fun re-downloading books to the new device. I have downloaded the classics many times before, to early tablet computers, Windows computers, and Smartphones. In fact, I have them on my Smartphone now. But, other Ereader software has been limited by the screens, which are not optimized for reading in any environment. My first read, of course, is Meditations, and I have a hard time putting it down and getting ready for work. Alas, Marcus Aurelius whispers in my ear that I need to do my duty before miring myself in the wisdom of an Emperor. Setup on the Kindle didn't go smoothly, as the device is much slower and buggier than my fast Smartphone. I had to set up a second Amazon account, which is dedicated to books; but, now that the device is registered, the sky is the limit, and I anticipate downloading and reading every book I can. The Kindle battery is the best part; since it can go weeks without recharging, due to its low power consumption and grayscale screen. I am looking forward to taking it outside, where I have never been able to read digital books before. What are you reading today?

Amor Fati Is Good For Your Mental Health

How Negative Thoughts and Complaining Affect Your Brain. In law practice, we get to see many people whose lives are taken over by a negative event, from which they seem to be unable to extricate themselves. This takes the form of wanting to initiate legal action against all those they hold responsible, or to project their unhappiness on the poor lawyer or other professional who is unfortunate enough to try to help them. I thought of this reality when I read this article about the effect of negative thoughts on the human brain. It makes sense that neural pathways in the brain can be altered by human thought. We control our reaction to events; and, if we dwell on each event, complain endlessly about it, it becomes our reality. Amor Fati teaches us to love every event that occurs, no matter how it seems at the time. We realize that we can't control the event, and we stop worrying about it. Many modern therapies draw on this wisdom, from cognitive behavioral therapy to AA's reliance on the mantra that we shouldn't worry about the things we cannot change. Think of complaining and worrying as addictive behavior. If you do it enough, you become conditioned to do it. And people wonder why lawyers have to be part technical practitioner, and part psychologist. Best advice I ever gave a client? Get over it.

Wisdom, Courage, Justice And Self-Control - Sound Like Politics To You?

Can you be a Stoic and a political activist? by Christopher Gill %u2013 Modern Stoicism.If you voted. If you did what you could. Stoicism teaches that you should have the wisdom to realize that the results of the election were out of your control, and you should have the courage and self-control to accept the results and move on. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you occupy, be the adult in the room. One of my favorite Stoic politicians, James Stockdale, faced serious difficulties in his life. It is unfortunate that his political foray met with such disdain. But, you would never hear him complain. "Discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.." he said. Yes, Stoics have been great politicians; but the founding principles of the philosophy, grounded in acceptance, and even love, of fate, require that we accept all outcomes as beyond our control. Yes, you can be a political activist; but, follow the wise precepts of the Stoic philosophers. 

Winning Is A Habit

Winning, as defined by Vince Lombardi, wasn't really about the final score. It was about the pursuit of perfection. If we pursue perfection in all things, we can sometimes achieve excellence. 

Be A Philosopher, Not A Historian

Almost Too Sober: On the Appeal of Stoicism - Los Angeles Review of Books. Philosophy is not an arcane study of history or philosophical writings. It is a life changing application of the wisdom of many centuries. Why philosophy became a study in colleges that focused on esoteric questions that had nothing to do with the life we all live, says more about the education system than it does about philosophy. The reason that Stoicism is becoming so popular these days is that is provides, for the willing, a prescription for true peace and happiness in what we call our short lives. Some of us come to this realization late. For some reason, the young are too immersed in the daily experiences of life to grasp the significance of accepting fate. It isn't necessarily a popular way to live, however. Looking at life rationally can be mistaken for lack of emotion. Controlling our emotions is the one thing we can control, and this is not easily understood by many. Epictetus warned his students that they had chosen a path that wouldn't be popular:

"Do you suppose you can go in for philosophy and eat and drink just as you do now or get angry and irritated in the same way? You are going to have to go without sleep, work really hard, stay away from friends and family, be disrespected by a young slave, get mocked by people in the street, and come off worse in rank, office, or courtroom, everywhere in fact."

 

 

 

Wait And See - Time Will Tell

Welcome to the Daily Stoic %u2013 Daily Stoic | Stoic Wisdom For Everyday Life. 

Why do the Stoics tend to not judge life's events as good or bad? Primarily, because they aren't. They just are. Over time, life will happen. Every time life knocks us down, if we wait a while, we can get up. One saying goes: "If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of all your enemies will float by". And, the Zen story about the farmer shows the foolhardiness of judging events as good or bad. I have gotten into the annoying habit of saying: "Time will tell", whenever someone promises something in the future, or suggests that some event is good or bad for them or me. But, let the Daily Stoic tell it:

"When we get dumped or we fail or we lose someone, we often hear that “Time heals all wounds” or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously this is meant well, but it’s also frustrating--if only because it’s trite...and way too simple.

As Rilke wrote, “Time does not ‘console’ as people say superficially; at best it puts things in their place and it creates order.” There is a Zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people thought was good luck, and then his son broke his leg while falling off it and people thought that was bad luck come round again. But because his leg was broken, the man’s son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on.

Time doesn’t make things better or worse, it simply makes them what they are. That’s why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing. Because we don’t know. Just giving something time isn’t automatically going to make it better--but it does at least give things a chance to shake out, for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we CAN rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that 'time will tell.'

That’s the moral of the Zen story too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is shortsighted. It assumes that all the facts have been entered into evidence. It’s better to hold off on forming an opinion, because fate is constantly unfolding around us, and today’s bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow’s good luck (and vice versa).

Time isn’t a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell."

 

The Best Ideas Are The Ones We Steal

28 Secrets of Exceptionally Productive People | Inc.com. Whatever your profession, you want to be the best, the most productive. This applies to life as well. How do you do that? Why, you steal ideas from the best minds you meet. I like to steal from people like Ryan Holiday, the Stoic writer, who steals from a lot of people. For instance, I have found that I am most productive between 2 A.M. and 7 A.M. As I get older, I sleep earlier, so I wake up earlier. No distractions. No noise, except the hum of the air conditioner in my garage/den. Ryan stole this idea from Bryan "Birdman" Williams. While I didn't steal it, I would have. Read on, and see whether there are some ideas here that speak to you. If there is an overarching theme here, it is the Stoic idea that the opinions of other people about how to live your life are worse than useless. They are dangerous, if you allow them to affect how you live your life. Be who you are. The hell with the rest of them. 

Distractions And Work - Work Should Be A Distraction

Execupundit.com: Distractions and Work. I seldom disagree with Michael Wade. And, when I do, I usually keep it to myself. We are both Stoics, and we tend to our own opinions. However, he treats distractions at work like, well, distractions, and opines that they shouldn't exceed 10% of the work day. I don't agree. I think that life should be filled with distractions. It is, after all, an amusement park ride. Some of my favorite days are the days I get a new gadget at work, and while away the afternoon playing with it. I can finish the work tomorrow. After all, I may not get a tomorrow. So, as you begin your work day, which just might be the last one you get, I hope that you have a lot of pleasant distractions. Now, I am going to go play with my new earbuds.

The Best Song Of All Time

Ripping the CD of the Essential Dylan this morning. Reminded me that Rolling Stone is the best song ever written. Whether you look at it as as allegory of the hypocrisy of wealth, or the death of innocence in the Sixties, or a literal look at the foolish greed of many, it speaks to all of us.