17 Dec 2025 · 0 min
Brian Johnson tells the story of his family's rooster, Happy, who's dying, and how the small annoyances he caused become precious when you realize he won't be around much longer. He uses it to argue that everyday irritations are actually reminders to appreciate the people who create them.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic one. This morning, Alexandra walked into my office to tell me that she thinks our rooster, Happy is dying. Now, before we talk more about that, yes, our rooster's name is Happy. Emerson and Eleanor are phenomenal pet namers. We have Happy the rooster, Lovey and Floppy and Spiky and Long Beak and Goldie the chickens. Then there's Zap, the dog that showed up on our property one New Year's Day a couple years ago and adopted us. And don't forget Wags, another awesome dog who decided he wanted to move in one day as well. Now, if you've ever listened to one of my Zoom calls, you've probably heard a rooster in the background. Sometimes I have to admit, I find this crow charming. While other times I find it distracting, whether it's on a Zoom or in my morning meditation when he's doing his thing right outside my office window. But this rooster is truly an awesome rooster. We hatched him ourselves, and he does his job protecting his hens heroically. Well. And he's not an ornery guy like his dad rooster was. So when Alexandra came in and told me she thinks he's dying while she does her country nurse thing with him to try to save him, I felt a deeper sense of sadness than I felt when we've lost some other chickens and found other dead creatures on the property. Now, I always use those moments as another stoic reminder of memento mori, but this one hit me deeper. I really, really, really liked this guy. Then I thought of a story Alexandra shared once. It was about breadcrumbs. And I forget the relationship book from which she got the wisdom. But the basic idea was, in a significant long term relationship with anyone, let alone a spouse or kids, there will inevitably be things about that person that annoy you. Maybe they leave breadcrumbs on the counter, which irritated the author of the book who told the story. Or maybe they leave the dishes out. Or maybe they leave their Legos all over the house if they're kids, which, in his less than enlightened moments can irritate the author of this plus one. Or maybe they do any number of things people do because they're human. And none of us are perfect now. It's easy to find those little things annoying. And what if one day those breadcrumbs or dishes or Legos or whatever weren't there because that loved one was no longer there? All of a sudden we'd miss those breadcrumbs or dishes or Legos or whatever. And that's what I thought of when I heard Happy might not make it. He hasn't been crowing for the last several days because he hasn't been feeling great and I already miss him. And I want to make sure I don't let those little things my kids and my wife and others do that I might find annoying distract me from the fact that their presence in my life with all the imperfections is a profound gift. In fact, what I try to do these days is use those very things I used to find annoying as the trigger for me to appreciate just how blessed I am. I hope our rooster makes it so I can remind myself of this wisdom every time I hear him crow. Cock a doodle do Day one Let's go.
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