Dr. Daniel A. Shaye

10/25/2026

Today I made a choice, a choice that I think is good metaphor for how we can turn the mundane into opportunities to be intentional, to coexist, to empathize, to be kind, to make a better world.

I loaded up my truck with dead tree and organic matter, and brought it all to the dump. After I'd cleared out the truck bed, I grabbed a broom and shovel to get rid of the very last bits of rotted wood, sticks, and such.

That's when I saw a little stick wriggling vigorously. A juvenile copperhead. Poisonous.

Standing in my truck bed, I maneuvered about, trying to get a good angle for the kill, a decapitation. I shifted, and the snake cleverly did the same, choosing the edges of the truck as it slithered, seeking safety from my blow.

I paused, considering this life that was now in my hands. Any moment would see the snake's swift end. And yet... I decided to take the broom, sweeping him out of my truck, coaxing him into my shovel, and releasing him into the woods.

Why? Why would I do that?

I did it because being sensitive to life is a good thing. I did it even though this creature can potentially pose a threat to humans, and yet I recognized that we ALL can pose a threat to each other. In fact, all of us have venom (words, acts) of sorts within us, and all of us instinctively want to protect ourselves and under-consider how important others are. We forget empathy, we pick up the shovel, we define an enemy, we act. We feel justified to eliminate a potential threat. That's not always bad -- but in those moments, there's an opportunity.

Maybe the best way to eliminate your enemy, even if he/she/it/they can harm you, is to show some mercy, to coexist, to go your separate ways, live and let live. It's a big world. Maybe there's room in it for all of us.

And no, I still don't like snakes. But this one will get to live its life, its way. I hope it has a good life. I hope it's happy, if such a thing is possible.

10/10/2026

Kindness is possible. Empathy is possible. Not only are they possible, but if you choose them, they become actual. Your choices can become positive forces that matter to your community, your family, your spheres of influence, your world.

There is evil & meanness in the world (no news to anyone). Poor choices are options, temptations, living in each of us. When role models and leaders (in title, if not in behavior) choose to follow their darker angels and model and even promote bad behaviors, we can forget our right and power to make our own choices. It takes self-awareness to choose the light, especially when we are tempted or led astray.

I'm fond of saying that each of us can be a blessing or a curse -- and we have a choice. Choose well.

If you choose to be a leader (and each of us is a leader at times), never forget that the first and most important person you'll ever lead... is YOU. Until you choose to lead yourself well, attempting to serve others as a leader makes no sense.

Lead well, and intentionally. Be and choose the best version of yourself, every day -- especially when it's not easy. Shine your light.

09/09/2026

I hope you enjoy this article. Lewis Pugh is a pretty intrepid soul, even tougher than I am... which is like saying "I ran a marathon" (which is true for me), "... but the world record holder is even better."

NOTE: The concepts in here can apply to swimming, or lifting weights, or exercise of any sort; or financial discipline, or diet, or becoming a better (anything), or nurturing better relationships. Pace, patience, self-discipline... they all matter.

Here's to you, creating the best version of yourself.

How a Nobel Peace laureate helped me swim across the North Pole.

Nearly 20 years ago, when I was preparing to swim across the North Pole, I developed a simple mental tactic to help me maintain self-discipline. I still use it today. I call it a “Desmond”.

There were days when I spent so much time in meetings, writing letters and making phone calls trying to find sponsors that I would reach the evening and realise I hadn’t trained. And cold-water training is not particularly appealing at the end of a long day.

The Desmond in question was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He had endured so much during the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, and yet he had kept going. So when I was tired and tempted to miss a session, I would think: if Desmond could go through all that, surely I could train in the cold for 22 minutes.

Why 22? We thought the 1km swim across the North Pole would take about 20 minutes, so I added two minutes for good measure. There was also a little British joke in it. University degrees in Britain are divided into classes, and a 2:2 is commonly nicknamed a “Desmond”, after Desmond Tutu.

So 22 minutes became my Desmond.

The rule was simple: 22 minutes. No less, but equally importantly, no more.

The “no less” is obvious. If I allowed myself to negotiate the number down because I was tired or busy, I had broken the commitment. But the “no more” is more interesting.

We tend to think of discipline as pushing harder and doing more. Sometimes it is the opposite. I didn’t want to have a heroic training session, exhaust myself and then use that as an excuse not to train the following day.

It also taught me something about willpower. One of the best ways I have found to be disciplined is to take willpower out of the equation. I don’t ask myself whether I feel like training, how much I should do, or whether I could leave it until tomorrow.

The decision has already been made: 22 minutes.

I still do Desmonds today. This morning I knocked out 22 minutes of weights.

Twenty-two minutes doesn’t sound like much, which is precisely why it works. But do it every day and it becomes more than 2½ hours a week, about 11 hours a month and nearly 134 hours a year. On a seven-hour working day, that is the equivalent of more than 19 full working days.

Nineteen days, built 22 minutes at a time.

What mental tactics do you use to maintain self-discipline when you really don’t feel like doing something?

08/15/2026

“I can’t do that.”

That’s Jack Reacher’s response in the first episode of Season 4 (no spoilers here, you can read on) to a woman’s telling him to leave her alone, when she clearly has a problem.

That’s me.

When something is wrong, I’m driven to right that wrong. Whether it’s a piece of trash where it doesn’t belong, or a social ill, or a person in need, I feel a strong desire to get involved.

“It’s not my problem” people say. They often tell me, “It’s not YOUR problem” when I take on burdens — and they’re right, my life would be simpler, easier, if I did walk away, let the trash lie on the beach or path for someone else to pick up, let that person in need take their chances that someone else will step up, hope that some other sucker will stick their head up and fight city hall.

“I can’t do that. I’m involved now” says Jack Reacher. And so do I.

In this world, it’s easy to depersonalize others. In the virtual world, a few keystrokes and a person is “destroyed” (trolled) or erased (blocked). This carries over to the real world — and even in the virtual world, the person we vilify or flame is still a person, someone with feelings, someone who — even if they are being pretty horrible — has a history that didn’t CAUSE them to be as they are, but that history or circumstance likely made being kind and patient and all the good things people can be just a little harder, a little less likely, for them. We rarely fully know what burdens another person is carrying.

Empathy is the answer to so very much -- empathy for others, for self, for future self and future generations too. Caring for one another is an answer. Love is the answer to most of what ails this world.

I’m a doctor, which literally means “teacher.” The best way to teach is to model good behaviors — which some would phrase, “Be the good you wish to see in the world.” I think that’s a great place to start.

Wanting to save the world (hey, that's honestly calling it what it is, taken to the extreme) is a lovely sentiment, but it’s impossible. The world has too much pain, too much need, too many problems, too much hurt and evil and (as some might put it) “broken-ness” for any one person or even a million people to fix. “Fixing” or “saving” the world is an even bigger hill of impossibility because we all see the world a little differently. Our lenses cause us to see differently, and desire different things. The world, and the people in it, will always have conflicts. It’s just the nature of humanity.

But… just because I, or you, can’t “save the world” doesn’t mean we don’t have responsibilities to each other. Now, I know a person with a very good heart who says, “You have family, maybe a few good friends if you’re lucky, but everybody else…” You don’t want to know what he suggests for everyone else (he’s a New Yorker, and his words can be pretty blunt). I disagree with him. He’s right, in that if you neglect your family and your closest friends while trying to save or serve everyone, then you serve no one; but he’s wrong, in that the stranger in need, or the social ill or society or (shudder) political wrong needing to be righted, requires SOMEONE to stand up, to face the challenge, to brave the slings and arrows and verbal abuse and mockery and failure that may or even likely will follow.

The key is balance. Some try to give so much that they are sucked dry and accomplish nothing. Some give everything, and the consequence (reward?) can be brutal — witness MLK, JFK, and other leaders with purpose who were rewarded with brutal ends. Others “keep their head down,” “keep moving,” and ignore issues and needs that cry out for help and solutions. And in the middle is the challenge: You can’t do everything… but that also doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t do SOMETHING. Maybe you can do your small (?) part. Maybe you can do a little more than your part, to make up for someone else who “keeps moving” and ignores a need, a cry for help.

I like this meme. I get it. I feel it. I hope it inspires you to dare to care, dare to serve, dare to risk loving and serving and doing acts of goodness. There’s a saying in the Christian religion, “We are the body” meaning that divine earthly acts require people to manifest God. What are your hands, your feet, your heart, your mouth, your spirit, doing to make a better world?

Thank you for reading this far. Thank you for caring. Thank you for considering and nurturing the best in you, and in others. Together, what good is possible? I'd like to find out.

08/01/2026

Believe in you. Seek your truth. Trust the counsel of wise people who have "been there," but don't ever substitute their view of how things are or should be for your own vision. You're on the path to your own wisdom, your own knowledge, and even if your path may be unconventional, it may still be YOUR path. Be brave... even if and when others judge, try to to push you off your True North, and even laugh.

When Dick Fosbury showed up to the 1968 Olympics, nobody took him s...

07/12/2026

Here’s a cause that's become increasingly important to me, and to many: preserving natural resources in balance with human progress.

We can protect our farms, forests, waterways, wildlife, local businesses, and close-knit communities while also creating opportunities for people to thrive. To me, those goals aren't in conflict—they're part of the same vision.

Rural and suburban communities everywhere are facing difficult decisions about growth, land use, and development including data center projects, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and industrial-scale solar; along with challenges like poverty, addiction, educational barriers, prejudice, and limited economic opportunity. None of those problems have simple answers.

I believe we can do better than to simply give up and allow Big Tech to pave paradise and put up parking lots. By listening to one another, being good stewards of land and other natural resources, supporting local businesses, and working together with respect, we can build a future that's both prosperous and deeply rooted.

I believe we can better connect to each other, and to nature. That's why I started Keep Surry Rural a few years ago. While I haven't had as much time to devote to it as I'd hoped, I still believe wholeheartedly in its mission—and I'm recommitting to it.

If this vision resonates with you, I'd be honored if you'd follow the page, invite a friend, or simply join the conversation. Every voice that cares about nature, human connections, and rural America helps.

Keep Surry Rural
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556897140885

Together, we can help ensure that Surry County, and our planet, remains a place where people and nature can thrive in harmony.

07/10/2026

Today I saw a rehabilitated eagle released back into the wild at Chippokes State Park. It was inspiring and beautiful. Some thoughts and musings:

- We can recover from wounds, illness, wrongs. That's a blessing.
- The bald eagle is a lovely symbol of the American dream.
- I hadn't known how vast a problem lead poisoning is for predators and scavengers. I hope hunters will make different, better choices.
- It was interesting that of the 100-200 people who showed up, only 1 was non-white. I wonder why that might be (a real question, I don't know)?
- We are stronger and better together. Who at this event was liberal? Conservative? Independent? Libertarian? What religions were present? It didn't matter. We were there for the eagle, for the joy of its return to the land and skies that are its home... the America that is ALL our home, too.

Fly free, eagle. Live long and well -- and maybe inspire us to do the same.

07/01/2026

Celebrating July 4 with home-grown garlic flowers! The holiday IS Independence Day -- so doing things a little differently seems appropriate.

May your Holiday weekend be peaceful and joyous... and both uniquely American, and uniquely YOU.

06/22/2026

This is a bad story — not because the cardiologist makes false statements, but because her statements are not the FULL story. The media tends to cherry-pick their stories, in that way. Their time is limited, and they need viewers — viewers who typically have short attention spans and little patience for nuance.

Yes, athletes may be at higher risk for sudden cardiac death associated with vigorous exercise. Yes, athletes may have congenital (from birth) abnormalities that may make them susceptible to exercise-related death. AND… exercise is one of the most powerful, extensively researched “drugs” we’ve ever seen. It’s a powerful anti-depressant, rivaling medication in peer-reviewed studies. It’s an immune system booster. It boosts bone density. It reduces the risk of frailty, fractures, loss of independence. And it also dramatically improves both life span, and HEALTH span (the number of years you’re likely to actually enjoy being alive, doing the things you enjoy doing).

Ponder that during your next workout.

9NEWS medical expert Dr. Payal Kohli explains sudden cardiac death.

06/18/2026

Here's to Jenny Simpson's full recovery. And here's to the running community, one I know well. Running (and triathlon, and OW swimming, and sport itself) can be so much more than the thing participants "do." Sport done right offers so much more than physical benefits (and exercise is a wonder-drug, the evidence on that is clear). Done as it can and IMO should be, sport is about community, about mental health, about... I'll say it... love. Not just love of a sport, but in a world where division is so easy, it's a bridge to connection between people who might otherwise never meet or know to support each other. It's a way to thrive, to heal, to join as one.

Whether you're on the track, the roads, or life's path, let's run the race of life together.

3-time Olympian Jenny Simpson hospitalized after collapsing at trac...