“The ultimate measure of a man or woman is not where he or she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he or she stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
This is one of my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes.
It has inspired me to act to drive positive change, for myself and others in my life. It has taught me to embrace the unknown and the uncertain and the difficult as evidence of my growth and progress … rather than to be feared as insurmountable obstacles, barriers or inevitable failure.
Even if our individual goals seem much smaller than those of MLK’s, we can still drive insight from his wisdom.
While you, an unhappy attorney who wants to leave the law, might suffer from anxiety and depression and stress in your work, you actually exist and live and work in a certain level of comfort.
You know what to expect each day. You are making money. You are paying your bills. You have stature in your social circles. You are pleasing the people around you. Things are okay.
Things are not unknown or ambiguous or severely risky.
You are comfortable.
But you are not being your best self.
You become your best self when you grow. And you grow when you face and overcome and succeed through challenges.
Consider the challenge of leaving the law. Consider the challenge of making positive change in the world. Consider exploring who you can really be. Considering finding that “non-law” job that is a great fit for you. Consider being worthy of happiness and confidence and inspiration.
Consider growing even more, and not withering away.
This leads me to another insightful MLK quote:
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Or in other words, we begin to lose our life’s meaning when we avoid the opportunity to be our best self.