The Greatest American Lawyer

Fulfill Your Potential

I have never presumed myself to know much about anything.  I don’t pretend with myself.  I don’t pretend with my children.  All the greatest mysteries in life are to be discovered on an individual basis. 

But I do try and bring home one message.  We were all put on this earth to fulfill our potential.  Everyone’s path is their own.  But you need to work diligently throughout the course of your entire life to find and navigate that path.  At the end of the path lies your special talent, your fundamental purpose and your sense of fulfillment.

Like most parents, I know there is only so much that we can teach our children.  But I have to say that this last weekend has been pretty special.  I spent eight solid years on the bunny hill snow plowing on my Telemark skis.  Even finding my way to the blue runs didn’t help much.  For eight years, I have had one kid on a harness while skiing.

This year is the first year I’ve been able to take telemark turns despite the fact that I’ve owned Telemark Skis and equipment for eight years.

My Son Echo is fairly cautious.  He does not take chances. As a father pushing potential, this bothers me.  But I’ve always tried to be patient.  This weekend, Echo made up a poem which blew me away.  It was so different than anything he’s ever said or thought before.  That tells me that he listens to the things I try to teach.  In his own words, here is a poem from my son which I could not be more proud of:

Try, try, try until you are at your best.  And when you’re at your best, try some more until you’re at the best you can ever be, and when you’re at the best you can ever be, try even more.  Never give up! [Download Listen_to_Echo.wav (2335.6K)]

They Don’t Call Me Nothin’ for Nothin’

My Son Fielding, who is eight, had a great quote the other day that I wanted to share.  He said, “They don’t call me nothin’ for nothin’.”

Now, I’m not so sure why these words struck me as so funny.  But they clearly did.  There’s something brilliant in those words.

Maybe it’s because we always want to think of ourselves as special.  Maybe it’s because we put ourselves on pedestals.  My Son Fielding points out that there’s no such thing as nothing.  Perhaps it was the way he said it with such enthusiasm and excitement.

I think I’m going to try and take myself less seriously this next week.  I’ve been on one of my over-focused, not enough vacation, impatient, creative, frustrated phases.  Maybe I just need to remember that most of things we think are the most important everyday really are nothing over the expanse of an entire life, let alone the life of the universe.  I think we all need to remember to take a big step back sometimes and take a healthier perspective on the relative trivialities of everyday life.  We have a lot more to offer to our families, clients and firm when we approach even the most serious things of the day with a healthy dose of perspective.