A quick thank you to
everyone who called, texted and emailed in response to my last newsletter; I appreciate your thoughtfulness and consideration. Your support and concern mean a lot to me and have brought some light into a challenging time.
April is National Stress Awareness Month and as I was reflecting on this, I recalled an article I read earlier this year in the Washington Post by columnist Kathleen Parker, in which she discussed recent data about the happiest (and unhappiest) professions
and how happiness has a direct correlation to stress.
The opening lines of the article reveal the struggle many of us experience as we juggle what we want with what we need: “It might surprise few that lawyers are the unhappiest people on the planet, at least when it
comes to their jobs. This is according to lawyers themselves and is the conclusion of a recent analysis by The Post of data on America’s happiest and unhappiest workers.”
When looking at the most aspired to professions, a healthy majority would put lawyers at the top or near the top of the list due to the prestige, income and outward appearance of
success.
Why, then, are there so many unhappy lawyers? Data indicates that the very same character traits which make a successful lawyer make for unhappy people. Chief among them is a healthy sense of pessimism. By training, lawyers look for the worst-case scenario in order to protect their clients.
So, who is happy? According to the survey, it is lumberjacks, foresters and farmers. Why? The less the stress people experience, the greater the happiness.
Parker adds, “the common denominator among the three is obvious. They all work primarily outdoors, soloists communing with nature far removed from the white-collar stresses of desk life and paperwork. Farmers live intimately with the earth, tilling and smelling the soil, planting, tending and harvesting crops, and ending each day with the
satisfaction of having accomplished something meaningful. They feed the world.”
Which very much aligns with the coping techniques I work on with my clients. Designed to stave off negativity and minimize stress. Exercise, meditation, getting in tune with nature (eco-therapy), music therapy and
art therapy are just a few. Work-life harmony is a goal many of us have—but we just do not know how to get there and for most of us, we can’t just walk out of our offices and into the field without consequences or large sacrifices.
But we can work toward more life with less stress and a deeper appreciation of the world and people around us as we release stress and
unhappiness. If you are someone who has too much work and not enough life, contact me for assistance in how to gain a better work-life harmony.
