Practice Management

I am pretty much a happy guy.  I like what I am doing even if it is not always cracked up to what I want it to be.  Like everyone, I have moments, and clients, and cases, and events that get in the way.  I try to move on.  So, you might say that I am sometimes unhappy, or that happiness is fleeting.  I have thought about, and I say no.

It was with interest that I read the post by Steve Ross and Olivia Rosewood entitled How To Find True Happiness.  I usually do not pay much attention to this carp, but I liked this distinction between happiness and pleasure:

Remember, true happiness is independent of circumstances. Pleasure is utterly dependent on circumstance. True happiness is prior and senior to the flickering phenomena of the world. True happiness transcends the boundaries of the mind and the limitations of conditioned propriety. True happiness is uninterrupted.

I think what this says is that true happiness is doing what you want overall.  If you want to move your office home, then do it.  If you want to transition into a new practice of law, then do it.  If you want to not work so hard or on so many cases, then do less.  All of that contributes to your happiness.  That is the overarching criteria as to what you are doing is worth it to you.  This is not to say that you will not find some aspects, some cases, some clients, some judges, some issues, or some situations displeasurable.  You will.  It is almost a given.  But, if you see these displeasurable acts as nothing but a bump in the road then the real issue is happiness and you are probably going to have to accept the fact that you are going to have to make serious changes to get that back.