Futurelawyer

Be Content With What You Have, And With Whatever Happens.

Want to avoid depression for the rest of your life? Learn from Pig, the Stoic. Don't be like Rat.

#WhyIAmASolo - I Don't Need Money To Be Wealthy.

One question I get a lot is whether I am sorry I didn't make a lot of money, as do some BigLaw lawyers. Perhaps the reason is that I don't measure wealth in the same way. Stress, large firm management problems, long hours that stretch into nights and weekends, in exchange for a huge bank account that supports all sorts of expensive things, do not, in my view, equal the freedom of one day during springtime, when I can get up out of my office chair at noon, and spend the afternoon doing nothing. Add that up to hundreds and thousands of afternoons, and freedom becomes a measure of wealth. Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius got it. I thank them for their wisdom. 

"What the Stoic does is not increase their expectations and demands commensurate with their success or status. Because if you do, you will always feel poor, as Seneca has said, and you will always be unhappy. True poverty, he said, is not having too little, it is the need for more, more, more. True wealth then, is being divinely content with what you have."

 

Are we truly content with what we have? Or, are we always pushing, striving, wanting, and needing more? Has anything you have spent your life pursuing ever made you truly happy? Or, is it when you relax and become content with who you are and what you have already that you become happy? Your call.

"People Will Come, Ray". Why We Love Baseball.

I get a lot of resistance from friends who can't understand why I attend baseball games. How can you sit for hours watching grass grow, they say. Too little action, they say. Football and hockey are more exciting, they say. The world has passed the game by, they say. Baseball executives hear it too. They have instituted pitch count timers, and cut back on novel player placement, and other things to speed up the games. But, at its core, the magic of baseball is its continuity. It is the magic of remembering our youth. It is the magic I feel when I remember the time I threw a player out at home plate from right field. Or, the time I had an unassisted double play at first base when I made an impossible catch of a line drive. Or, the time I walked 8 batters in a row in an All Star game. Every time I sit in the stands, and score a game on the computer, I remember hot summer evenings as the official scorekeeper for the municipal baseball league. But, Terence Mann, the fictional sportswriter in Field of Dreams, said it best. 

Memento Mori.

Hey, you! You're going to die. Get over it. Have some fun.

Nothing On This Earth Can Be Owned.

Good friend, Lone Eagle, posted this Crazy Horse quote today, and it struck a nerve. We spend so much time trying to claim ownership of land and territory, and kill others to maintain it, and guard it with real and imaginary borders. We merely occupy space. We don't "own" it. If another threatens us, or invades our space, we are duty bound to defend ourselves; but, short of that, what land or building or property will we bring into the next life, if there is one? The next time you hold or use or otherwise engage with a "possession", ask yourself if you really have anything but a temporary connection to it. Then, treat it like the ephemeral thing that it is.
"One cannot truly possess the Earth upon which the Man walks;
and so there are those who would try and possess the minds of the weaker Men.
-Crazy Horse

Seeking Fame Is A Fool's Errand.

In today's world, fame is fleeting, and seeking it is a useless exercise. It attracts attention, and often the attention is destructive. It magnifies faults, and overstates ability, and, while it may bring money and other things, it isn't a goal the wise man seeks. Avoid the spotlight. It is easier to find joy.

He gave tours of the house and garden.

He guided his guests

down the hallways

and into the rooms,

filled with trophies and awards.

The ribbons and medals were neatly arranged

in shadow boxes

made from wood and metal and glass.

They glowed in the morning light

that came through the windows,

made of Italian glass.

In the halls were photographs

of his conquests

and his ceremonies.

They were filled with more trophies

and awards,

testimonies to his career

and his past glory.

He loved to talk about his past,

while he spent his present

reminding everyone of what he had been.

He is dead now.

Others give the tours;

but, they do it in a graveyard,

telling all who will listen

about the great man buried here,

who once was famous

and great

and who collected medals and trophies.

The medals and trophies

sit in dusty boxes,

in pawn shops and the bedrooms of his fans.

They live their lives in his shadow.

They measure their happiness,

by his success.

How To Live A Successful Life.

Lawyers see the best and worst in people. We are human, and we suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, just like everyone else. But, we also get to suffer along with our clients, who also suffer. There is only one way to successfully navigate a lawyer's existence, and it applies to everyone. Pig gets it. Do you?

#WhyIAmASolo - I Learned These Lessons Early In Life.

Fate, or luck, whatever you want to call it, when I graduated from Law School many years ago, I would have killed to get a good job paying a decent salary. Even after starting with two other graduates in a small practice, I chafed under the requirement to make decisions with two other people who didn't always share my goals or business sense. Then, when we mutually parted company 40 years ago, I was disappointed when large law firms seemed not to be interested in me. So, I was forced to go solo, and realized that I liked it. Even though I didn't make a lot of money, I relished going to work every day, secure in the knowledge that anything that happened, good or bad, was my choice. This list recognizes that many of us spend too much time in our lives and law practices, trying to please other people. Just stop. You may be surprised at what happens.

1. You'll lose 99% of your close friends if you start upgrading your life.
2. You'll be 10 times happier if you forgive your parents for their mistakes and start living life for yourself.
3. A salary is a drug your employer gives you to forget your dreams.
4. If you always wait for the ‘right time’ then you'll end up your whole life waiting.
5. Train your mind to let people win arguments to conserve your mental peace and energy.
6. The most prominent marker of maturity is when you stop taking things personally.
7. By age 30 you should be more focused on earning money and thinking about starting your own family.
8. You don't need to read another self help book, what you need to do is take action and be self disciplined.
9. You'll be ahead from people running after degrees and fancy colleges if you focus on building your skills and your financial education.
10. You will never get honesty and integrity from people who are lying even to themselves.
11. The easiest thing in the world is to complain and the hardest thing in the world is to go after your dreams and make them true.
12. People around you are trapped in toxic relationships because they are afraid to end up alone.
13. Others are never going to come to save you from your problems. Only you'll need to get yourself out of the mess.
14. You may love your friends and family a lot, but it's always wise to not tell them everything about yourself.

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Monday Morning Wisdom.

The Stoics tell us that we should never worry about what other people think. Yet, many of us labor our whole lives seeking approval from others. We want others to like us. We want others to compliment us. Take all that energy, and apply it to deciding for yourself what will make your day happier. You get to choose. You don't need the wise ass on the hill to tell you what you already know.