In Times of Question...

I'm posting this for my brother Jon. I called and gave Jon the news after I recieved a call from another racer and good friend. Hope ya'll enjoy and benefit from this as much as I did.
~Jamie


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I realize the length of this, but if one person finds it helpful…I feel it was worth the post.

In Times of Qusestion…

After reading all of the posts concerning the loss of fellow racer Drew Lippolt, many thoughts were running through my mind. But there was one word in particular that lingered in my mind hours after logging off the mboard and continued to remain so loud that I couldn’t even sleep. The word was passion. Previously overlooked and under minded, upon further thought, this word was the answer to many questions I had about my own life. Here’s just some food for thought.

Passion…Passion is what drives you. Just to be able to partake in whatever you passion may be is your motivation to get out of bed and face the routine of everyday life. Your true passion is always on your mind, if not in full focus, then lingering in the back and providing you the willpower to get through the day. Passion will involve sacrifices in your everyday life, sacrifices that you wont even bat an eye at making because your passion (whatever it may be) means that much to you. I once heard someone ask John Haner how he could possibly crash in the infamous turn 8 during a sprint race at Texas World Speedway and then get back up and take a third place. His response, “ it’s the end of the month…I got rent.” That is passion. I’ve seen on countless occasions riders show up to the track without even enough money to make it back home. So much passion for the sport of road racing, it didn’t matter. Of course these riders won just enough money to make it home and back to the next race where they would show up in the same situation. That is passion.

All to often to an outsider looking in on someone who has discovered their passion, words like insane, crazy, and even stupid are brought up. I feel sorry for that person because they obviously haven’t felt what true passion for something is.

It is a known fact that the human body requires the will to succeed, the will to improve and excel. Your true passion should allow you to do this, whatever the cost. The human race requires a passion to drive them, and it amazes me that there are people who live life every day lacking it. As sad as it is, there are those who leave this world without ever knowing what having a passion even feels like.

Your passion should fire you up. It should make day-to-day life into stepping-stones to get you from where you have to be to where you want to be. In this case the stepping stones may be that 8-5 Mon.-Fri. job that allows you to get in your truck at 5:15 on Friday afternoon, hook up to your trailer, crank up Call Me the Breeze by Lynard Skynard, and head off only to spend you weekend fulfilling your passion and hanging out with, by far, the coolest, most caring, but yet diverse group of people in the world.

All motorcycle riders have been called insane, at one time or another, for competing in such a dangerous sport and we all know that were risking our lives every time we flip down our visors and barrel toward turn one. In your true passion, you overcome these fears in order to succeed and improve. Your true passion will allow you to come out of a corner completely slidewayz, spinning the rear, sliding the front, knee on the ground, when everything you have ever known is telling you to back out of it, but you don’t. As puckered as you are…there is still that unexplainable smile on you face. That is passion. Willing to sacrifice all you know, including you life, for the simple fact that what your doing makes you smile. That is passion.

Passions may change or evolve over the course of your life, and that is ok. Friendly faces around the club will come and go, some more long term that others, and that is ok too. What I challenge you to do is chase your passions, whatever they may be, no matter how extreme. Listen to the advice provided by others, but most importantly listen to your heart. The mind has been known to mislead, but I assure you that your heart will never fail you. Follow and listen to it, and it will lead you to your passion, whatever it may be, and I assure you it will make life worth living. And when the end does come, and your looking back over you life, that unexplainable smile will still be on your face. And that is passion.

In times of question, perhaps brought on by the death of a fellow racer, your mind does crazy things. As stated earlier follow your heart. Sure, the consequences are always in the back of you mind, but in my years with the CMRA the good times have considerably outnumbered the bad. Don’t take for granted the abilities you have been blessed with. And as Yogi Berra once said, “it ain’t over till it’s over,” so discover your true passion and make the most out of life.

~Jon

great post.

Quote:

Originally posted by Brandon Spradling:
great post.

+1

Very nice! I think in times like this we all question why we race and compete in this dangerous sport. I know I have been doing it all week but when it's time to race I will put it aside and do my best. I enjoyed reading your post!

Beautifully said Jamie. I understand exactly what you said because I live with that same passion. Thank you for that post it really reminds us why we get up in the morning and deal with life everyday.

Someone asked me the other day what roadracing meant to me...

I told them that RoadRacing is my life. It gives me purpose. I am a better person for knowing the people that make up the field I compete in. I would do anything for anyone of them.

Even that statement seems to cheapen it's true meaning to me... That's all I had on short notice.

I hear you my CMRA brother and sisters! Great post! See you all at the track.

Great post Jamie. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful Post. It was really Beautiful. I know that RoadRacing brought Passion back into my life. I would not be the same person without it. Without the passion my life was going knowhere in a big hurry.

Great post ! Thank you for sharing.

This has been a horrible week of reflection for me. We read of racers losing their lives all the time in RRW but when it comes home to your front porch things change. This event, combined with something I witnessed in Austin earlier in the week has shaken me to my core. I have asked myself time and time again if I should race. Am I doing the right thing? What about my family? My 4 year old daughter?

How can I justify this?

Then I read this post and now I know the answer. Passion. I race because of my passion for the sport and the people involved. I drive 1000 miles a week because of my passion for the students in this state. That passion is what drives me and makes my life complete. I could lose my life doing either one of these things. But because of that passion, it would be for a reason.

Thank you Jamie.

Boy, that Weems Mommy did a FANTASTIC job raising those two.

Thanks Jon & Jamie for the much appreciated and needed inspiration.

Jon really deserves all of the credit...all I did was post it for him. And...I think he's a super cool guy to have as a brother [img]/ubbthreads/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img] the best I could possibly hope for, that's for sure!
~J

I got my 1st AMA Pro license in 1953 and have been involved in racing all these years and somtimes wondered why. This piece says it all.Thanks Jamie

Wow, great post Jon/Jamie. That's the best explanation I've seen for the madness we call fun. Well stated words I could never find to describe the love of racing. Thank you......

The first post is strong enough to move a man to tears, but the thrill is tied up in the list of posts behind it screaming "EXACTLY!!!" I am 25 and even younger at heart and I look around and my heart breaks for a generation and even a society that lives and dies without ever knowing what Passion is. Look down the list of posts and tell me it's a thrill be a part of so many people that DO understand. You can usually tell the instant you meet a person. "this man knows what passion is"... As I wonder around on Saterday evenings at CMRA events I am in awe of seeing so many people so full of passion. Whether it's the competition, speed, or comraderie...
I am honored to be a part of CMRA.
I'll see you all in 3 days...

Thank you guys, I really needed this post at this time. After reading about Drew, I admit I was really at a loss for words...

I remember feeling the same way after witnessing the tail end of Gordon's horrendous crash last year... I think that stayed with me until I saw him walk up and say hi at TWS... I could barely believe it!

I'm pretty sure Drew felt the passion and that he would want us all to keep ours, too.

Great post! Especialy as we get older, we wonder if this even makes sence to do. Questions like,"what will happen if I take a big digger?", questions about your family or job, how will this affect your overall life?...Well, for most of us, this IS our life, and life HAS risk, and chance. If you sat on a log for 60 years and never experienced flying around a corner at 100mph, would you have true "happy" internal memories? I think not. The "passion" we all experience is priceless. The truth is.. any of us could flop out at any moment due to crossing the street, choking on a ham sandwich, or going hunting with Dick Cheney. This is life. Live it to the fullest, live every day like it's your last, and don't go hunting with Dick Cheney.

FFFFantastic!!!

Yup. When I ever get any stuff about how dangerous racing is, I ask them if they know how dangerous a bathroom at home is (injury/kill) or driving in a car to work every day.

We definately aren't the kind of people to sit at home hoping nothing bad would happen only to break a hip in the bathtub.

Those that just don't get it - never will.

Let them be boring honkies playing golf. Let them try not to do anything dangerous and then get in a horrible car wreck on the way to work. They take their lives for granted by NOT living life.

I never feel so much alive as when I'm on the track. I never feel the blood rushing through my veins as when I'm hunting down my next passing victim (or trying to keep up with someone who just passed me!).

Let them sit at home and waste their lives watching TV arteries clogging up with fat from potato chips and ice cream. Let them have heart attacks with sofa cushions grown into their buttocks.

Let us arrive to same place in death wishing they should have done more, and me regretting nothing.

And if my time comes doing something I love, so be it.

I've enjoyed so much more in life than the average American couch potato.

We racers live more in one weekend than most TV watching, golf playing, mall shopping Americans do in a life time.

Those that get it, do it. Those that don't get it watch the rest of us that do and say "I wish I could that."

WOW!!! I believe Jon has a talent for putting feeling into words.
Great Job.