The Mindfulness Blog

When I think about perfection, I think of another "p" word that a lot of us lawyers know, and embrace: Predictability.

It's the inevitable result of logic. Or linear thinking. Or deductive reasoning. Predictability is the root of stare decisis, and foundation of the common law that so many law students are taught. Any contrary way of thinking would be, well, contrary to pretty much everything that us lawyers (at least, American, British and other common law jurisdictions), recognize.

Which is why (speaking in somewhat linear fashion), we should examine the notion of predictability, every once in a while. After all, the fruits of our thought are only as durable as the foundation of our thought--and who knows? A bit of self-examination sometimes yields a meaningful surprise.

I know it is heresy to suggest, but there is another way to experience life--or analyze a situation, or argue a point--than through the lens of strict predictability. A way that actually complements predictability, and doesn't try to replace it. It's called mindfulness, which is a state of awareness that one can cultivate through the practice of meditation.

Mindfulness opens us to the fact that sometimes things (like arguments of opposing counsel) can be spontaneous and unpredictable. Nonlinear, and not deductive. Like life, sometimes things happen that we don't expect--it's all about our response to things that are unpredictable.

There's a tremendous quote from the Austrian psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, that I often repeat to myself, and others: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space, is the freedom to choose our response". Mindfulness and meditation help us find that space--help us respond, rather than blindly react.

Perhaps our response is predictable, or perhaps it is unpredictable --it really doesn't matter, as long as we address the point we wish to make, and are responding rather than reacting. As long as we are civil, and professional. Respectful. Thoughtful.

As long as we are not the enemy of the good!