Dan Mueller talks about his path from photography and bodybuilding coverage to surviving Crohn's disease, 16 surgeries, and addiction. He credits friends and faith for his recovery and emphasizes how sharing struggles with others helped him heal.
I'm here with Dan Mueller. Dan runs strengthmedia.com. Now, Dan and I are just starting to get to know each other, but what really struck me about Dan is when Dan heard about One Shot, he jumped on straight away. He opened up his email database, he gave connections to us, he just— there was something in Dan that gravitated to One Shot. And I've spoken to Ned about Dan and And Ned said that Dan's got a fantastic one-shot story. So I'm just as excited as you are to hear what it is.
I was always a skinny little guy, toothpick guy growing up. But when I moved to Sioux Falls here, I started to do some photography and video with some powerlifting meets in Sioux Falls. And that's where I first met Ned about 10 years ago. And about 9 years ago, I started doing some of the bodybuilding shows in the area, the video, the photography, and I've been doing that for 9 years covering shows in Minnesota, North Dakota, and we really haven't had any bodybuilding shows in South Dakota yet. We hope to one of these days. So that's kind of a very short story of how I got To know Ned and got involved in photography and the video of the bodybuilding. I myself have had a lot of health problems growing up. I have Crohn's disease. I've got a lot of arthritic problems, a lot of autoimmune problems. I've had 16 surgeries. I've also had a lot of difficulties in life. I'm a recovering addict. I'm a recovering alcoholic, and through the process I've had an incredible spiritual journey getting from one place to the next. And I've always discovered that God has worked through friends to guide me to where I'm supposed to go. I don't always know the future or where the journey should lead to, but Ned has been one of those people in my life that has And he befriended me and encouraged me, and, you know, we've gotten to know each other over the years. And so that's my very short story. I could go on and on with a longer story, but—
With some of the things that you had to deal with in life, be that the health issue or the addiction issues, how important has every bridge that you've come to, the decision to either stay where you are or to move forward, How important has that decision been for you?
It's been very important. I've always had to work through fear, because fear has been the thing that prevents you from taking that step. And I've often needed encouragement from friends to take that step. But I've discovered that when I step Into the fear or past the fear, it's not so bad, and there's a great amount of healing that takes place in one's life. I've discovered the incredible grace of God that works through other people, and I'm really grateful to Tears for some of the people that have been put into my life.
Yeah.
In the past. However many years it is.
So what would you say to someone that's, say, watching your story? They're either facing an illness issue or an addiction issue or just something that they've got to overcome, yet they're bound with fear. What steps do they need to start to take?
I would say they need to keep trying, for one thing. I have fallen down many times, and I've had to keep getting up, falling down, getting up. So the thing is, keep coming back, keep trying, and I believe eventually, if you keep seeking, eventually a door will open somewhere. So for me, it's just keep coming back and keep trying, and in time, something's going to happen.
Did you have a file? Did you have a file? With making changes in your life?
Yes, many times. Many times.
So when you failed and you tried and it didn't work out, what did you do or use to get up and go again?
Often I failed— I'm an isolator by nature, and so what happens is I think I can solve my problems on my own. And ultimately, when I look back, all those failures have been related to the fact that I was unable to share whatever was bugging me with another human being.
Good.
And once I'm able to take that step and share my faults and my struggles with another human being, there's something very healing in that. It's like speaking to God through that human being. And it's very healing. I can only— It's just something that you have to experience to really know what it's about. Thank you.
