Every day, I say “It’s a beautiful day.” I think it is important to start every day positively by recognizing the beauty in life.

I am a big Boston Red Sox fan and this year, as they proceed through the playoffs, they are taking an unconventional strategy. Usually you see the “small ball” strategy in small market teams that do not have big budgets and big players. So they have to get more bases on the hits they get and be more aggressive. In this case we have the team with the best record in baseball and one of the biggest budgets. So why are they taking this aggressive strategy? It works! No one expects it. Instead of depending on a starting pitcher to handle most of the game, he is taken out as soon as he starts to falter. Starting pitchers are used in relief. The plan is to do whatever it takes to win this one game.

What does all this mean? If you want to have staying power at anything you must adapt. I used to be an avid squash player until my right shoulder, at some point in my young life, started giving me trouble. I would just be in terrible pain every time I swung the racket. So I quit playing. I was relating this to a wise man I knew a few years ago, and he asked “Why don’t you try playing with your left hand?” I had never thought of that.

I used to go skeet shooting with a roommate who was a gun enthusiast. At the time, I had started to lose acuity in my right eye. He suggested I shoot left-handed, and when I did, I shot much better, even though I am right-handed.

Don’t give up. Adapt!

I had a cousin-once-removed who had cerebral palsy. She could not control her body and was wheelchair-bound most of her life. I usually could not understand anything she said. But she wrote beautiful poetry. Since she did not have the use of her hands, she typed using a finger-like device strapped to her head, one letter at a time.

We usually don’t think of adapting until we encounter a challenge such as these. I started a podcast called Running: A FEVER with the intent of it being about running. I adapted when an injury prevented me from running. To make these adaptations, I must know myself as well as Alex Cora knows his Red Sox players. And I must have a purpose, like publishing a podcast, or winning the World Series.

As I record the podcast, I pass a man moving down the trail using a walker. And this is nowhere near a parking lot. He’s serious about his exercise, and he’s adapted so he can continue despite his weakness. That is exactly what I am talking about.

Know yourself, have a purpose, adapt and succeed.

Recorded October 13, 2018.

Weight (change since Jan 2018): 201 (-73)
Workout time: 182 Minutes
Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 8.97 Miles (178.9)
Steps: 20,125
Muscle Mass (change since Aug 2018): 138 (+0)
Body Fat: 27.2%
2018 Goals: (1) Run 10.5 miles in one day by 11/18/18 (2) Lose 100lbs by 12/25/18
2019 Goal: 15% Body Fat