When I talked about working on patience at the beginning of the year, I’d like to think you got the hint that I’m a fairly impatient person.
If not, well, I’m a fairly impatient person. When I find something that I want, I can end up pursuing it doggedly until it becomes mine. I have a bad habit of often achieving one goal, only to raise the bar up and get right to work on the next segment of the goal, pushing higher and higher.
I don’t like to wait.
I really, truly don’t. When I decide to drive on autocross days, I hate waiting to get out there for my first run. I have so much built-up adrenaline that I can’t wait to let it out and enjoy it, conquering the bit of nerves and firming up plans of attack.
After I get the first run out, I evaluate the parts of the course I can make the most improvements on, which I struggled with and guess where I’ll have the most trouble. When I’m in the middle of it, I’m cool and calculating, the nerves disappear and I focus on doing the best I can and learning what I can.
No matter what, I'll do what it takes to make sure I can race & modify my cars.
At the end of the day, I’m wore out but when I think back, I realize how much fun it was and how it’s another step towards improving and pushing my limits.
Living in the now.
I’m not sure I would have had the courage to start until after I modified my Miata. In fact, I had her for a whole year, almost a year and a half before we autocrossed for the first time. I was a bit embarrassed driving a stock car when almost all the others are modified, which of course was silly and simply a convenient excuse.
So I started small, with turn signal intakes, and by the time I raced for the first time she had her RPF1’s and a Flyin’ Miata suspension. It was the push I needed to get out there and do it, and I’ve been enjoying racing ever since. It makes me feel alive, and it’s what I hope to do a lot more of.
Don’t wait, be impatient.
I am a bit sad that I wasted so much time getting started, but it turned out good for me in the end. I became the Rookie of the Year, which was what I wanted. It felt like a stretch goal, but I persisted and came out on the other side, having achieved my goal.
When you find what you’re passionate about, I don’t think you should wait to get started on it. Whether it’s a small step in the right direction, like my turn signal intakes were, or a bigger step like my first autocross, just start.
The people who think you can’t do it, or shouldn’t do it, well… Ignore them. Their opinions should be counted as invalid — Only listen to those who show that they want to support you, even if they think you’re a bit crazy.
There’s no time like the present to invest in your passions and what makes you happy. If it’s truly your passion, it’s worth whatever sacrifice it takes… And only you can determine what that is.
(I’ll be working all day today, so I’ll try to anyhow.)
