Go Outside and Look at the Horizon

Bill Klein

Bill Klein is a lifelong lover of the outdoors. He's passionate about mentoring children in a wide array of outdoor activities and teaching respect for the land and landowners. He lives on a small farm in northern Washington County and has never met a dog he didn’t like.

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Go Outside and Look at the Horizon

Posted by: Bill Klein under Fishing Updated: November 8, 2009 - 5:26 PM

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Before retiring I worked for a Fortune 100 company in the telecommunications industry. This was in the days of the so-called long distance wars. We were in mortal combat with Sprint, MCI and a host of smaller competitors for the hearts and wallets of clients. To say it was stressful was an understatement. Our "Performance Culture" was a euphemism for sell or die.

The company used to import corporate shrinks to keep us from ending up in padded rooms. Among them, one Dr. Robert K. Cooper, who wrote the bible on beating stress and winning in the marketplace. Dr. Cooper, a Minnesota native, always urged people to get to a place where they could see the horizon on daytime breaks. You could find that advice in his book The Performance Edge. Something about seeing the horizon that mellows you out.

This is not an original thought. Thoreau told us "the soul demands a horizon."

I'm constantly urging kids to drop their X box games and go outside. But the same advice applies to us as adults. I find my horizons on duck hunts. Because you read Club Outdoors on the Star Tribune's website, you likely hunt or fish too. So you are shoring up your mental health with frequent views of the horizon. Maybe without knowing it.

Share this mellowing-out tip with people you know who are couch potatoes. Who only see the horizon on nature television programs. And if you know more about why viewing the horizon benefits us, share that knowledge in the comment section of this blog.