Lessons on managing stress

When my youngest child (I actually call my daughters, babies, even if the eldest is in her mid thirties now) informed me that she was designated a correspondent of this paper, I thought that the task ahead was tough. It was going to be stressful for her to come up with a readable article for a respectable paper while working under time pressure. The deadlines she had to meet would affect her European sojourn. But, because she was to cover the virtual pilgrimage of Cebuanos to the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod, I knew she would have spiritual help. True enough, I was deeply proud to read all her articles on the event.

How did she manage the stress? I asked my baby to put to print her thought in this column today. Here is her write-up.

I am always stressed. To prove that, notice my thinning hair, heavier frame and almost hazy look. I got that only after a few months of law practice. When you look at my dad, you’d see him still having shiny black hair, boasting a more athletic frame (in his 60s), and looking focused as ever. Those things he gets in his 34 years of practice.

I pondered on these differences as I started writing this piece for him. Aside from these physical differences, this article is also a complete departure from his usual jargon-laden, in-depth analysis of local and national politics. My friend Atty. Trish de Guia thought I was my father’s ghost writer. And I told her that to ‘ghost- write’ for my father would be like asking Malia, Obama’s daughter, to write her dad’s thank you speech.

Having said that, and after having quashed your expectations from me now give me the leave to write what I want. And that is to say, I am always stressed.

Luckily for me, I got my first dose of advice from Atty. May Aguilar on November 15, 2012. Atty. Aguilar, who lectured on the topic “Managing Stress: Fulfilling oneself

without failing health amidst working pressures”, was part of a group of speakers during an MCLE activity organized by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Cebu Chapter.

She began her lecture by saying that she was indeed an authority when it came to the topic of stress. Then she rattled off some events in her life which only proved to us that she was indeed the ‘most stressed’ lawyer in Cebu.

According to her, the number one cause of stress is not the practice. The number one cause of stress is traffic. In her enumeration of the leading causes of stress, the practice did not even make it to the top ten.

So why are lawyers stressed anyway? Lawyers, neophyte lawyers at least, would concur with me when I say that we are stressed because people expect us to know a lot – from knowledge of all the laws and rules of procedure to non-legal matters. Stress also factors in because of deadlines for pleadings and other legal documents. It is incumbent upon us to know the many periods of filing. I talked to a new lawyer and she said that what adds to the stress is the expectation that cases would always be decided in favor of her clients.

Friends who are in the practice for many years, do say that stress in directly proportional to the amount of work load. I have friends who, on top of active practice, are teaching, managing businesses, joining social clubs/organizations, and starting families. The more they have on their plate, the more stressed they are. Yet, the more avenues they tread in the practice of law, the more well-rounded they become as law practitioners.

Atty. Aguilar did mention ways to manage stress. She said that stressed lawyers should 1) resolve struggles (emotional, physical, spiritual, etc); 2) create a feeling of control; 3) make a list; 4) have a reliable assistant.

As my father’s assistant, I have yet to apply number 4 in her enumeration. Also, I have yet to find that lawyer who stopped practicing because of stress. After all, lawyers eventually learn to manage everyday stress. Or die trying.

It is not so much the stress that debilitates or discourages lawyers from the practice. Stress, I believe, will be eased if lawyers would only remember the moral obligation thrust upon them. When I took the oath last March 21, 2012, I took a lifetime oath to ”…conduct myself as a lawyer according to the best of my knowledge and discretion, with all good fidelity as well to the courts as to my clients; and I impose upon myself these voluntary obligations without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” Nothing else matters. Going back to the oath would help lawyers narrow down issues, resolve struggles, and shorten the list of priorities.

As I have admitted, I am always stressed. Yet the way I deal with stress involves the recognition and the fulfillment of these ideals:

To do no falsehood,

To not promote any groundless, false or unlawful suit,

To delay no man for money or malice,

To be effective channels of truth, justice and peace,

To tread the path of righteousness.

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