I found this article in Tuesday’s WSJ to be thought provoking on the issue of keeping one’s life in balance. The article focuses on a law school educated investment banker who forgoes family time in order to feed his exercise addition. The wife and mother of their 3 kids is bitter:

“A lot of wives in my position would have left,” Ms. Waxman says.

Yea, and if she’s saying that now, then she still may leave.

The flip side is that the husband might be a terror at home if he didn’t feed his exercise addiction. Or perhaps he would become addicted to something that is more destructive to the family.

The article exhibits a problem of which there is no easy solution. Some people are work-oholics. Some people are alcoholics, addicted to illegal substances, hunting, fishing, porn, golf, or exercise. Any of these addictions can be bad for family life. Just ask a hunter’s wife this time of year.

The trick is finding balance in one’s life. But we are all different.

My balance is not your balance. It might be better for me to go home at 5 or 5:30 every night and work 3–4 hours on the weekend. It might be better for you to work until 7:00 every night and not work on the weekend at all. It might be better for someone else to have a 9–5 job where they don’t have to work or think about work in non-business hours.

But litigators don’t have that luxury. I am always thinking about work.

We all need to exercise. But can there be too much of it so that it hurts the family?

We all need a hobby outside the law. But how much of a hobby is too much? Maybe there can’t be too much. If you like it that much and can do it that much, maybe you should.

BTW: ever noticed that there is stigma associated with being a lawyer who is a very good golfer. My first mentor Natie Caraway told me that people don’t want a lawyer who is a great golfer because it means that they spend too much time at the golf course. The same probably applies to hunting, fishing, running and even world-class boozing it up.

I love practicing law more than anyone I know. I could literally do it 7 days a week. But I believe that it would come with a cost that I am not prepared to pay. Would I be a better lawyer if I worked more? Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve seen some lawyers who work too much who spend half their time spinning their wheels.

Maybe I would be a better lawyer if I worked more, but I would be a worse husband and father. Should I work more? Or less? What about you? Ever thought about it?

Finding balance in life is hard—damn hard. And there are no formulas that work for everyone. I’ve got the question, but no answers.