No. 10: Recognize the limits of control. I loved my mother very much. She was smart and taught me a lot. Here is one of her pearls of wisdom: You can't change people, you can only help them. This idea is timeless — and particularly important for lawyers, who tend to be strongly invested in their illusions of control. Read this from "The Second Book of the Tao," by Stephen Mitchell:
The duck's legs are short; you can't lengthen them
without making her suffer
The crane's legs are long; you can't shorten them
without causing him pain
What is long needs no cutting off; what is short needs no stretching
When you realize this,
You can let the world go its own way.
Do you think that you know what's best?
Do you think that the world
should conform to your way of thinking?
All these benevolent people —
how much worrying they do!
Since ancient times,
what a lot of fuss and upheaval
the benefactors of humanity have caused!
Comments