“Improvise, adapt, and overcome” is one of the mottos of the United States Marine Corps and is also a foundation for my own life because having limitations physically means I have to do just that. Throughout my life, I have had opportunities to learn from people that have had military experience, and because of that, they taught me how to go about things in a “tactical” manner. I’m not sure if it was on purpose or if they did it unintentionally. However, it doesn’t matter because it is a concept that we can all benefit from.
I fortuitously was able to take a trip to New England and Maine this past month, and not only did the beauty of the different landscapes have hidden communiqués throughout them, but so did the people. This year I have been attempting to push myself forward physically and mentally in order to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Because what I was not warned about in my early life is how uncomfortable it is to just be me in a new area, nevertheless what seemed like an indestructible wall is slowly getting torn down piece by piece. From going to a local county fair in Lexington, Massachusetts, with people that I had attended a wedding earlier with to sitting by the water while having a very intellectual conversation with a guy in Maine that I had just met 10 minutes prior. In both of those instances, my mind was playing tricks on me, yet I kept continuing on because we do not evolve into the person we aspire to be if we back down when we are put in an uncomfortable position. That is why having the ability to go from a fluid mindset that allows our minds to throw jabs at themselves, to a tactical mindset that allows us to dodge the jabs and keep moving forward is a great ability to obtain.
One lesson that I was able to observe on this trip is that we miss one hundred percent of the shots we do not take, and as a result, the price of regret is much more expensive than the price of giving everything you have and potentially hitting the target. Fortunately, that is a message that crosses all aspects of life, doesn’t matter if it’s work, relationships, or any opportunity that gets presented to you. Take the first shot even if you miss, pull back, adjust your sights, see your target, and shoot again. The basics of any subject, like shooting guns in this example, can be internalized and utilized in all situations. That is why I have such great respect for the service members and people who have had to grow up young and who I am lucky to call friends because the lessons, the experiences, and the thoughts of those types of people are who I can relate to and If you can relate, you can learn.
I want to clarify that I do not go full on G.I Joe in everything I do because that is also not healthy for your mind to be on that level all the time, but when my mind starts spinning, throwing jabs, and I am put in an uncomfortable position that’s when I flip the switch on, do a hard stop to assess the situation, and then continue forward. I am often pleased with the outcome that occurs by taking these steps.
Former Navy Seal and now firefighter David Goggins once said, "We can’t control all the variables in our lives. It’s about what we do with opportunities revoked or presented to us that determine how a story ends."
