A thousand wishes vs one

I write this unironically, coming off a series of 14 hour work days while jet lagged off my tits.

Two major influencers - Chris Williamson and Jordan Peterson - are in poor health right now.

Both advocates of and models for that grind.

Hard, hard work.

Miraculously I’ve been sick once in the last 4 years - earlier this year I got a cold that knocked me down for only a day and a half. Partially due to the wines of Napa Valley.

The wife and I went on a quick vacation, and 3 glasses of wine later we were passed out at 5pm.

Ha.

The mind. Damn you can hack it. You can get it to do just about damn near anything if you trick it, coerce it, condition it and/or ignore it.

The body though? Different beast.

It warns you. Warns you. Then it shuts down. Often all at once.

Sometimes it can be (or seem to be) environmental. Both Williamson and Peterson have been exposed to mold.

When you compound that with flat out maniacal work effort that already puts the body under threat… it can end poorly.

There are other things involved. Supplements, drips, peptides and more in Williamson’s case… I’m not sure about Peterson’s but his last big health scare certainly led him down an experimental path to deal with his health.

I try (keyword try) to listen to the body. If it’s telling me to slow down, I slow. As much as I can.

It’s hard.

Sometimes I push through when I shouldn’t.

But I know the cost.

Meditation is the best biohack to date I’ve ever found. It works on both the mind AND the body at the same time.

And you eat clean. Typically not completely out of balance. I wonder how much of Peterson’s “all meat” diet plays into his body’s atypical response to the issues he is having.

And you sleep as much as you can. Sleep is hard when you’re busy. I wake up either with a great insight, a point of stress or having to pee. 3-4 times a night.

Somehow the best sleep I’ve gotten the last two weeks was on the 16 hour flight to Dubai and the 16 hour return flight from Dubai.

40,000 feet puts a lot of space between you and the world.

You exercise, too. Not the stuff that’s so insane it creates it own stress as a byproduct. For my money, I have trouble beating a great hike.

I think a lot about the continuum of virtue. An Aristole concept. Virtue is between excess and deficiency. Too much and not enough. The answer is somewhere between.

I’m not talking balance. I don’t even know how to define that.

I’m saying push close the to the limits. But respect them. And know when to push on what.

I’m still learning. But at least I’m aware.