Pride and the Profession... [part 3]

Wow. It's been three years since my last post? Really? That's way too long. What happened? Why was I quiet for three years? Hm... Oh, I think I know. My kids happened. LOL. Geez. Anyway. I found this little puff piece in the saved folders. This was meant to be part three of the posts I was writing on but I wonder why I didn't post it. I sort of already lost all momentum on this following my first two parts:

Part 1: Finding your Balance...

Part 2: Sacrificing Sacrifice...

But I'm just going to post this anyway. I don't know what I was rambling about, but let's get this over and done with and then move on.. So, PART THREE: PRIDE AND THE PROFESSION, below:


You must take every pride in what you do and you must enjoy every hazards and rewards of the legal profession. You must have an overriding reason that motivates and fuels you, beyond the riches of material wealth, because when it's tiring and no longer fun, it'll still drive you on when you'd rather just quit. Because you'll find that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is exactly what you wanted, but not what you thought it was. And you'll never get back the irretrievable loss of time. No money will ever justify all those long hours reading that 60 page law report that you painstakingly discover isn't in anyway related to your case.

This much, I'm pretty sure is true for any profession.

So yes, you look at the lawyer standing next to you in Court with a better suit, better car, better hair (except that I like my hair and no one has it better), and while the obvious instinct for pretty much anyone is to guiltily battle between enjoying/resisting thinking that "if this tool can make it, there's no reason why I can't", it's always best to re-calibrate your thoughts and have a proper perspective. Show a little respect and appreciate that everyone has sacrificed something to reach where they are, some even their morality, honour or dignity.  Comparisons are the thief of joy, and you're exactly where you're meant to be. There's little benefit in comparing yourself to other people. Especially in this age of social media. People envy the lifestyles of others. They coveteth thy neighbour's things and holidays... and.. I'll write about this on some other topic because I'm getting off-track.

So yes, find your work-life balance. But only after you establish your foundation and your basic legal knowledge first.Having that foundation and legal basic knowledge takes a lot of hard work. Hours and hours and hours and hours in the library, reading and absorbing and utilizing knowledge that is already there. The best lawyers do not get wahyu's sent to them. They formulate arguments by refreshing and expanding and perfecting and incorporating and assimilating 140,034,930,492,000 different arguments that have been argued and exhausted prior. That is why precedents are important. It's there. You just have to read them. There are no genius lawyers. Only hard-working ones.

Because without that hard work and foundation, you will not know what it means to become a lawyer and you wouldn't survive without having a solid and strong foundation of the law. The thrill of finding that obscure legal principle from an 1893 case. Or formulating an argument that is accepted by the Court and suddenly changes the law of the land. No one is going to applaud you or pat your back. So if that's what you're looking for, you're better off doing something else. But if even thinking about these achievements make you smile a little inside, then that is the professional pride that you ought to have.

It's easy to tell the people who take pride in what they do from those that don't, apart from observing their work. That's quite easy because when you observe those at work, it's easy to distinguish and spot those who are committed, that ensure that their work aren't shoddy or haphazard, that portray an almost OCD-like perfectionist streak in their work but not anything else. But you don't always get to observe someone doing their work. So IMO the alternative is to just ask someone about what they do, and see them either beam and offer litany of compliments and excitement about their profession or throw a train-track of complaints about everything - (I hate my boss, the hours, the coffee-lady, blablabla).

I guess, moral is take pride in whatever you do, and show it. It's no wonder the law regards a person's employment as an essential defining feature and characteristic of a person (almost as much as your race, religion and gender defines you) and takes great lengths to protect that. You are more than what you do, definitely, but what you do is undeniably a huge part of who you are. And it doesn't matter what you do. The kuey teow seller who has perfected his craft, doesn't skimp on any ingredients and puts all his focus and effort to ensure consistency in every plate; To the lecturers and teachers presenting papers and molding the next generation of society; to the bus and taxi drivers providing an essential service to those who depend on them; we all have a place in society and we all have a job we need to take pride in and that requires us to do it to the best of our ability.

So do it well.