A PRESSURE COOKER, for those of you who have never seen a real one in action, is (according to Wikipedia): A metal vessel in which food, along with some amount of water, is sealed and placed on a heat source (e.g. a stove). When the water reaches the boiling point at atmospheric pressure, it begins to boil; but, since the produced steam cannot escape, the pressure rises causing the internal boiling point to raise. Once the pressure increases to the designed amount above air pressure, a relief valve opens, releasing steam and preventing the pressure from rising any further. The main advantage of a pressure cooker is that it cooks foods much faster compared to other methods. The main disadvantage of a pressure cooker is that if the pressure relief valve gets stuck or does not work properly, the pressure cooker will explode LIKE A BOMB.
Does that sound like the definition of any lawyers you know, or, worse yet, does that sound like YOU - - ready to explode?
The key element of importance to the pressure cooker is the PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE. When that valve opens (allowing the internal steam to escape and the pressure to subside) the food is cooked and ALL IS WELL !
We lawyers, who are typically under tremendous pressures (e.g. time pressures; client pressures; court pressures; billing pressures; commitment pressures; etc, etc) also need a "PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE" of sorts.
We need something in our personal lives that allows us to reduce the pressures that we endure in our weekly (if not daily) routine. The old saying "All work and no play makes Jack (or Jill) a dull boy (or girl) is so true. But, worse yet, we might settle for being "dull;" but we certainly do not want that heart attack, stroke, case of ulcers, or an early death, that may be just around the corner for many of us if we do not ramp down our personal "pressure relieve valves" with something like exercise, short weekend vacations, an evening out with that someone special, or just plain walks. If we don't, we will be like those (real) pressure cookers whose pressure relief values gets stuck and the entire cooker explodes.
We have all seen too many of our colleagues "explode" (or get seriously sick, or even die) when they have not backed off a notch or two.
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