She is so poised and good at what she does. I see her on our local public access station from time to time with her own show on legal issues (it’s true, I have no life). She teaches at the community college. She is, and as long as I’ve known her has been, involved in state- and nation-wide professional organizations. She has a lovely daughter and great husband. She’s a perfect example of what I want to talk to you about today. 
My subject is “reality of success” and, in a way, that is something this audience really doesn’t need to hear about. According to the definitions of success I’m going to use, success is already your reality. You are here. You are not here because any statute requires it, maybe a few of you are here because your bosses wanted it or encouraged it, but mostly I suspect you are here because you want to be good and effective at what you do. You want to learn. And if you are here because you want to be here, and you want to learn what this course has to offer, you will be successful. You are successful. More than that, you hold the keys to a happy, fulfilled life in you hands probably without even knowing it. Let me explain. 
First, my definition. Success is happiness, and happiness is success. If you are outwardly successful, rich and thin and witty and recognized for your accomplishments, but take no joy in those things, then you may meet the world’s definition for success, but you are not successful because you are not happy. On the other hand, if you take joy and pride in baking a perfect loaf of bread, or writing a good set of interrogatories, or pushing your physical limitations by running you first 5-K race, that will make you happy, and therefore successful; and not just momentarily happy but joyful throughout life. There is scientific evidence that supports this. 
True success, and true happiness, come from within. We I say that, you may respond, “yes, well, I know that, I’ve heard it a thousand times.” You have heard it a thousand times, and in a thousand ways. What did Dorothy tell the good witch she had learned in Oz? “If you’re looking for happiness, don’t go any farther than your own backyard because if it isn’t there you never lost it in the first place.” But what do we really mean when we say, “happiness comes from within”? You cannot reach happiness by consciously looking for it, which, I think, is what Dorothy had in mind. “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.” That’s John Stuart Mill. An Austrian psychologist, Victor Frankl, put it: “Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued, it must ensue . . . as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” In other words, it is the journey, and the way we perceive that journey, that brings happiness. It is not reaching a long-sought goal that makes us happy. 

           It is the journey, 
     and the way we perceive that journey, that brings happiness. 
       It is not reaching a long-sought goal that makes us happy.

 Which explains a lot. I know we have all said toourselves: if only I could afford to buy that suit, if only I could lose ten pounds, if only I could get that job or finish that degree . . . then I’d be a success. Then I’d be happy. Well, maybe so, and maybe not. I submit it depends on how you experience obtaining that goal. This phenomenon is described by a University of Chicago psychologist in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Now, a serious academic probably cannot get away with saying he is studying the nature of happiness. He calls it optimal experience, which he describes as: “those times when instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions when that happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like.” And, contrary to what we usually believe, these moments of optimal experience are not passive, receptive, relaxing times. They do not come sitting on the beach or watching a football game. The best moments come when you body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile, when you energy is invested in realistic goals and your skills match the opportunity for action. Optimal experience is something we make happen. We achieve it when we gain control over our life, at least the one aspect at hand. Happiness may come with a personal best at running, or finally learning that piano piece you’ve been working on for ages, or growing a perfect rose. When you were little, it may have come placing the last block on a tall tower. In your profession, it may be preparing the most complicated case in your office for trial, or preparing the most difficult client for deposition. These experiences are not necessarily pleasant when they are happening, in fact they may be quite painful. But in the long run success adds up to a sense of mastery; a sense of participation in creating your own life. I want to add a bonus that come with this optimal experience—it doesn’t need external validation—a thank you is nice, applause is nice, but that’s not the source of your success. You are. 
Let me give you an example from my own life. As Lisa told you, I’ve been an appellate court judge since 1992. That is an elected position with a six-year term. The first time I ran for office, it was a new experience, and although painfully difficult in some ways, it was exciting and challenging and because it was new I had a lot of energy for the project (at least that’s how I remember it). I ran for re-election last year, and the experience started out differently. I was not fire up. Let’s face it, I was negative. I started thinking about how hard it is to ask people for money, and how expensive it is to get on television, and about all that rubber chicken and all those hot dogs. I though about how “politician” is almost a dirty word. I thought about that sick feeling in your stomach if a campaign goes negative, and the feelings of dread and fear of failure that are inevitable, even in a successful campaign. And I started feeling really sorry for myself. And I thought, I’ve got to be crazy to do this again. 
Then I thought of all the people I had gotten to know when I ran in 1992. How I received support from strangers who just wanted to help me get elected: about the pachangas and county fairs and rallies where I had met wonderful voters from all over the State. I met people who put up signs, recorded Spanish-language radio commercials, invited me into their homes, introduced me to their friends, taught me about their lives and their communities. I thought how generous these people had been to me, people who had no idea what an appellate court judge does, and had nothing personal to gain from my election. Then I started thinking about how I might be able to give something back to these people if I could persuade them that their vote truly can make a difference. Not so much their vote for me, but just the fact that they voted. I really believe that if people will participate in the process, their lives can improve. So I started feeling a little better about the election, and not quite so sorry for myself. 
Then I thought about being a woman in politics. When I was elected in 1992, I was the first woman ever to serve on my court of appeals. I beat that drum a lot. Now, fifty percent of my court is female (that is, we are two of four judges). Women are surgeon generals, attorneys general, senators, university presidents, and judges. People are, for the first time, talking about how women may be more temperamentally suited to public life. It’s a remarkable change, and I think we too often take it for granted. And I though that I was proud to have been a tiny part of that transformation. 
So by the end of my long dialogue with myself, I was feeling really good about running for re-election. That was fortunate for me, because of course voters can tell whether you’re excited about what you are doing, or whether you are just going through the motions. More importantly, I knew whether I was engaging in a heartfelt effort or a reluctant one. Creating a positive frame of mind about the 1998 election was a very conscious and deliberate process for me, but it worked. I got into it, I worked at it, I got re-elected, and most important, I had many happy, successful experiences in the process. Looking at the process positively and deciding to approach the task with all my energy made all the difference. That’s one experience. I want to share with you one more thought about this success and happiness theory of “flow.” Much of eastern philosophy and religion focuses on being alive in each moment, in embracing each experience and living it fully in the “now.” One way of describing this is mindfulness. Much western philosophy and religion, on the other hand, concentrates on the goal, the thing to be achieved, the future. They seem opposed, even irreconcilable. One you achieve by relinquishing desire, by just “being.” The other you achieve by obtaining your desire, by just “doing.” Which is a true description of success, of happiness, of enlightenment? 
How about both? I think this theory of flow, of optimal experience, allows us to understand these are two sides of the same coin. You achieve the reality of success by engaging in an activity you are truly committed to. But the success, the happiness, is not found in the goal. It’s found in mindfully working toward that goal with energy and skill. 
I would like to leave you with two thoughts. First, I want to teach you something I have learned several times, and have to keep relearning. I don’t know why I have to keep relearning it, it should be as natural as, well, breathing. That’s what it is—breathing. When I get stressed or nervous or anxious about something, I tend to hold my breathe. I know many of us do that. It’s exactly what we shouldn’t do. You know that at the end of an exercise class, the instructor will have you take a deep breathe or two. The same thing works wonders during the work day. Try this with me. Sit tall, relax you shoulders. Place you hands in a loose, comfortable position. Now breath in to a count of two, and out to a count of three. Try it for a longer count. Each exhalation should be at least half- again as long as the inhalation, even twice as long. You can do this anywhere, any time, it takes a minute or less. Its benefits are huge, and it will calm you, refresh you, energize you and lower your heart rate. Think about it the next time you find yourself holding your breathe. 
Second, I want you to take pen and paper. Write down something you want to do. It can be an enormous, life changing project: going back to school, joining the Peace Corps or having a baby. It can be something much simpler, like practicing a musical instrument every day or painting your bathroom. The first thing you think of is probably the best and truest. Now fold up the paper and put it in your pocket or purse. That’s it. Maybe you’ll think about what you’ve written down, maybe you’ll forget about it until you wash those pants and find the wadded up paper. But identifying that thing you want to do, and making the desire real by writing it down, might help you accomplish it. And the process of accomplishing it may bring you joy and the sense of personal success. That’s the only kind that counts. I wish you the very, very best of luck. Have a wonderful learning experience these next days. It has been an honor to be here.