Dear Friends,

While Dr. Jean and I were traveling home from Iceland at the Keflavik International Airport, I sat down at our gate and was fiddling with my bag when the fella in the next seat commented on me being a hunter. I wondered how he knew, then I realized the pants I was wearing had a little symbol of the KUIU brand. This initiated a conversation. I asked him and his wife where they were from and they said Cleveland – my hometown.  

Long story short, turns out he and I went to St. Edward High School together. We even played football in the same program. He was a couple years older, and still knows and hangs out with the whole cast of characters that made up my high school experience. We reminisced about a few teachers who had impacted us, then he said “You know, when you’re going through school it’s hard and you don’t enjoy the discipline – but as years pass you learn to appreciate it.”  

If only we could have the wisdom we obtain with age when we are young, or have our young bodies as we mature. It’s hard to keep both, but one thing I noticed from this impromptu reunion: my classmate still looked really fit. Why? He had a passion for hunting. His wife mentioned that this was his one trip a year that wasn’t a hunting trip. So he stays fit because his passion requires that discipline. And tapping into your passion is a great way to push outside of your BOX.

What is the BOX📦? It is your comfort zone. What is your BOX made of? Steel, wood, plastic, cardboard, string? I will tell you this: the more you get out of your BOX, the more pliable it gets, the larger it gets and the easier it is to open the lock. The less you get out of your box, the more RIGID the box becomes and the harder it is to remember the lock combo.

The only reality you can know is what you are willing to experience. So unlock your box and expand your reality. I am not just talking about travel. Each part of your life has its own box.  Some people live outside the box with their finances but inside the box with their health! All kinds of variables.

Understand when someone tells you that you are out of options, what they are really saying is that THEY are out of options for you. Step out, and you will find that what you thought was the only road is NOT. You will also find each time you push beyond your box, you will do so with more confidence and less resistance.

So bust out of your BOX – you never know who you are going to run into!


God Bless,

Dr. Dan