Know your “Why”.

This letter hangs on the wall of my bedroom, next to my door, so that its one of the first things I see and walk past every morning when I wake up.

It was gifted to me by a high school student after a talk that I gave about my journey of overcoming depression and anxiety and the skills I learned in the outdoor world that allowed me to do so. Those skills changed my life. They’ve afforded me many great opportunities; one of which is the comfort and calmness that I feel in just being authentically myself. That used to be a very illusive feeling that I wasn’t sure I’d ever fully get to experience. That growth over time has made me pretty frickin happy, and I’m ecstatic that sharing myself with others can elicit such a positive response. Gratitude. Humility. Happiness. Sense of purpose. Drive. That’s how I start my day, thanks to this student and their incredibly kind gesture.