The pursuit of happiness is embedded in our country's founding document and, with it, into our genetic code. We pursue that which we do not have, and we seek to be that which we are not. The toll on our mental health is an accepted characteristic of law school life coupled with a sense of pride in the belief that law school must be an overwhelming ordeal to prepare us adequately for the legal profession.

But it does not have to be this way. Happiness is not an elusive dream of a distant future depending on the sacrifices we make today. We are endowed with the ability to be happy right here and now, and for that, we depend on nothing and no one. This book serves as an anchor for law students and lawyers. It dismantles specific thought patterns that education fosters so that we can find happiness in and beyond the law, not tomorrow, but today.