I have always wanted to be the best version of myself. I believe that sitting in a deer stand provides some of the best opportunities to achieve this. One thing that I have been told over the years is, “You may walk to the stand a boy, but you walk back to your truck a man.” This phrase didn’t mean much to me when I was younger, probably because I didn’t understand it. But as I’ve grown older these words have slowly begun to be more than just words. It’s 5:30 a.m. and everything’s pitch black outside. Pulling into camp, country music quietly plays over the radio as you feel the crisp morning air. Parking your truck you get out, grab your bow, and then start walking down the path through the woods. It’s a little bit unsettling as your ears strain for every little sound in the dark. All you can see is the little circle of light your flashlight provides. But as soon as you see your stand you feel relief as u climb up in it, it feels safe from whatever may be hiding in the dark. To me that’s how I think of it all the time. Everyday life is like walking through the dark woods. You never know what’s out there or what’s watching. But the stand is a place to be safe from the world, it’s a more focused reality. There’s no service so you can’t go hide in your phone. It’s just you and nature, it gives you time to think. Time to think about all the hard or difficult decisions you’ve ever had to make and to come to peace with them. It may even make you want to apologize to someone if it’s something you can’t make peace with. The stand is a time for self reflection, a time to figure out who you want to be, a time to make your relationship with God closer, and a time to figure out what makes you you. You walk in with your head spinning with thoughts, but by the time you walk out you have a clear conscience and a plan for who you want to be and how you’ll achieve it. I believe in the power of the deer stand.