Proof of Progress

A gentleman sat next to me on a recent flight, busy on a call that only ended when the flight crew threatened to remove him after the door closed. He hung up, exhaled, and said to me:

“It’s better to be tired than hungry. That’s what I always say. If I’m tired, it means I have something going on. I’d rather be tired than hungry.”

It was rather bold, certainly unexpected, and, surprisingly, pretty good advice.

We didn’t speak again for the rest of the flight. But I kept thinking about it.

I liked my fellow passenger’s mindset. There was a certain gratitude baked into it. An appreciation for a life full of activity. In his framing, feeling drained isn’t an annoyance, it’s more like a badge of honor.

I don’t think I’ve ever really considered it that way. When I’m tired, I’m usually just irritated, because there’s generally still more I want to do. I’ve never stopped to see tired as a measure of effort, or as something that would even be worth being grateful for.

But that’s often how gratitude works. We tend to find it only after we pause long enough to reframe what we’re feeling.

Given the choice, I’d rather be tired than hungry too.

A quiet receipt for having shown up to something that mattered.