Practicing Law on a Full Stomach

This month’s issue of GP Solo has a great article, If Esq. Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy by Robin Page West (who I wrote about in The Accidental Practice).  The article makes the point that our clients need us lawyers as much for emotional support as for legal expertise – and if that unless we tend to our own well being, to make sure that our stomachs are full, we can’t be there for our clients:

Each day I try to be mindful of how much more effective I can be when my stomach is full. Not just at reconciling, but at doing almost everything, including running my law practice, interacting with clients, and raising children (which is why I’m always on the lookout for new recipes) […] When I neglect to feed my whole self, it’s so much harder to be an
effective advocate. Feeding my whole self does not mean attending CLE,
trying cases, participating in bar activities, and reading cases and
treatises. It means doing whatever I need to do in order to be happy
and satisfied–including banishing feelings of scarcity, or at least
keeping them safely at bay.

The article concludes:

It is by no means a small thing. If we adopt the attitude
that we deserve to be happy; if we can focus on the pleasurable moments
in our daily routines (even the very small ones); if we can eliminate
(rather than tolerate) some of the things that drive us crazy; and if
we can create a life that purposely devotes time on a regular, ongoing
basis, regardless of how busy things become at work, to what gives us
pleasure, we will be well on our way to finding our “most admirable
self.” Being a more effective advocate will follow effortlessly.

Why not see how this approach works for you?