Physical exercise surely does help, but physical exercise alone cannot mute the sirens. One cannot find meaning in life, only add meaning to it. Or, perhaps more pessimistically, one can at best hope to find some activities that make one's existence barely tolerable.
In the old days, when humans lived in small communities, one would compare himself to a small group of people. Now that the village has gone global, there seem to be lots of people above us, and since it is in one's nature to compare oneself to those above, rather than to those below, endless dissatisfaction with oneself is the likely result. As the old Roissy once wrote:
"The best way to gain perspective is to focus on those below you. The best way to gain motivation is to focus on those above you. Strike a balance."
In the old days, when humans lived in small communities, one would compare himself to a small group of people. Now that the village has gone global, there seem to be lots of people above us, and since it is in one's nature to compare oneself to those above, rather than to those below, endless dissatisfaction with oneself is the likely result. As the old Roissy once wrote:
"The best way to gain perspective is to focus on those below you. The best way to gain motivation is to focus on those above you. Strike a balance."
"The great secret of happiness in love is to be glad that the other fellow married her." – H.L. Mencken