A tired dog is a happy dog

finding irritation

In yesterday’s post I wrote about how Jerry Seinfeld believes that comfort is the enemy of great comedy. The fact that he’s thin skinned and irritable is what makes his work great. He continued in his interview with Tim Ferriss that the two most important things in his daily life - aside from writing - are trancendental meditation and weight training.

They both joked about the importantce of distress in our daily lives. At one point Jerry said “A tired dog is a happy dog.” Weight training for Jerry creates distress, irritation and physically challenges him. Lifting weights makes him a tired dog. Trancendental meditation provides a counterpoint to the distress. It is a place where he gets still in both body and mind.

Growth needs both distress and soothing. One to challenge and annhilate us and our egos, the other to simply allow ourselves to ‘be’.

We humans need distress. We need c…