Step outside the box

In the arctic chill on Mille Lacs Lake last weekend, I viewed one of the most glorious moon lit nights I can recall. A large bright moon that hung so low in the sky it seemed almost touchable. It provided an illuminated glow on the snow covered ice that made me pause despite the below zero temperature. The experience revealed what waits when willing to step outside the box.

Spending the night in a fish house has been on my list of things to do. Shocking as it might seem to some, I wanted to give it a try. I will admit that I came into the planning process with a short list of fish house requirements, which included a backup plan. As luck would have it, the chosen weekend turned out to be one of the coldest this season. However, inside my cute and comfy fish house, I was hardly affected by the cold.

Unfortunately the fishing wasn’t the best but the fun and laughs were nonstop. Very early Sunday morning one rattle reel made its announcement of fish on (that’s fish house talk). While my brother skillfully handled the fish call, I took a walk to the out house, answering natures call. Stepping out of the fish house box fully expecting a blast of cold air, I got much more than that. The path of crunchy snow on the icy pond not only provided an ease to my walk but also a glow of bright light twinkling on the cold snow. The fish houses scattered about looked like boxes under the lights of a Christmas tree, just waiting for discovery. The moon provided a mosaic beyond imagination.

Monday morning as I contemplated my ice fishing weekend, confident that I would do it again, I realized an odd connection between my fish house experience and Be the Change. When I step outside the box, whether it’s a fish house or a new endeavor such as Be the Change, waiting for me are experiences and opportunities that would have been missed had I decided to stay inside my comfort zone, not willing to try something new.

Be the Change represents a way of thinking that might challenge comfort zones and require out of the box action that has never been done before. But waiting for us will be a health care environment that’s better than any patient, family or provider has ever experienced before, simply because we tried something new.

On the ice of Mille Lacs Lake, in the quiet still of the night, I experienced something big and bright outside of something small and simple, comparable to life with Michael. Tucked back into my fish house bunk bed following my moon lit walk, I thought about how Michael would have loved this and pictured him waiting for the next big fish.

Subtle simplistic ways provide light to Be the Change.