Seinfeld, the zen master of comedy, once made the observation that our blessing in life is when we find the torture we are comfortable with.
In a world where everyone is doing everything they can to avoid painful feelings, this is a refreshing insight. Because it’s impossible to anticipate or avoid pain.
Everything sucks, some of the time. And most things are hard whether or not we want them to be.
And so, instead of trying to head fake all of that unpleasantness, we simply surrender to it. Seeking the perfect amount of suffering in our work. Accepting torture as the price of admission and the cost of doing business in this world. Trusting that it will become choice that we get used to making. And knowing it’s ultimately healthy and allows us to come out stronger the other side.
Master that, and we have mastered life.
But we don’t cling to it, either. We never treat our torture as a merit badge that earns us the right to be a smug wanker now that we have made it.
Because if we engage in this public game of competitive suffering, trying to prove to people how purified we have become, then we have learned nothing.
Remember, the point is to become comfortable with our torture, not complacent about it.
As another comedian once wrote, it’s all suffering, but we survive by knowing how to spread it out.
Before you blot out the torture right before your eyes, understand the power of your burden. Take responsibility for it.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What if your blessings and curses often come in the same package?
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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
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