It’s Time to Man Up

Friends, I desperately need your help this week. Nothing too wild and crazy…just need you to send some good vibes my way, and let me tell you why. I have quietly been very sick for the past 6 weeks. I have had needles in my hip, needles in my arm, and have consumed every antibiotic ever invented for all but 4 days of that time, fighting strep throat and who knows what else. (Maybe I should have been raising money for that instead of the Arthritis Foundation.) Why is this so important other than the obvious? Because I have a personal goal to run 26.2 miles next Sunday in under 4 hours in the greatest city in the world. No biggie, except that I don’t think I have been able to run 26.2 miles TOTAL the entire past month. So, I need your good vibes and your positive thoughts. Thanks in advance.

Every week I sit here and love to offer unsolicited advice, positive feelings, and encouragement about living a passionate and stylish life with the hope that you will hear a different perspective…a perspective you might like, or even love…and then get super-jazzed about living each day. And I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this yet, but I never really tell you how to do it. You have to figure it out yourself (thanks Dad for that quality). I’m never going to write a self-help book or a step-by-step guide to living life. I wouldn’t know where to start. I’m all about attitude, swagger, self-belief and will. If there is something I want in life, I go and get it. I can’t tell you how, just that I will make sure it happens. I used to score goals that way. Get deals done at the office. And I’m about to go do that this week in NYC. How? I have no freaking clue. Actually, scratch that, I do know how. I believe in myself. I believe in the incredible energy of NYC. I believe in the unwavering support (monetary, written, and verbal) of family and friends over the past 6 months. And last, but certainly not least, I’m just going to make it happen.  I have to.

I’m nervous. Scared even. I’ve shed a few tears this past week as I’ve been unable to get off of the couch and do anything about it. I’ve got people worried about me. It’s okay. I’m fine. This is actually one of the things that I knew could happen on this journey. I was aware I could get sick. I knew injury was a possibility. Fatigue. Swelling. So on. That’s why I did this. I write every week that anything is possible if you go grab life, and sometimes I have to remind myself personally that this is true and that I am not feeding people a line of BS. I’m predicting a miracle next Sunday. I have no idea what that means…but I feel it, and I play life by feel. From everything I’ve read, finishing the NYC Marathon is a definite Top 5 moment in life. To do it under these circumstances, man. Next week you may read that I didn’t finish, and you know what, I’ll be crushed. But I’ll man up and promptly convey all of the wonderful things that I learned along the journey that took me from Charlotte to Nashville to Salt Lake City to New York City. But if I finish and finish strong, join with me in celebration. Not that some guy named Benj ran a long way under tough circumstances. Nah, screw that. Let’s celebrate that indeed anything is possible, and it’s time to start living life that way!

I’m bib # 19659 and I start at 10:15am EST next Sunday, November 5 in Staten Island. My goal is to be finishing in Central Park by 2:15pm. It’s on ESPN, and you can track my every move online via the NYC Marathon app, so take a peek. Send me a note this week if you wish. I promise I’ll get you back if you ever need it. And to those who will be there in person, thanks in advance. I’m gonna need you.

So, challenge yourself.  Test yourself.  Get out of your comfort zone.  I have not been comfortable for the past 6 months, and it has been ridiculously fulfilling.  1 more week to go.  I’ll be ready.

Have a great week. -Benj