Last weekend’s NASCAR race had a spectacular finish with cars piling up and sliding across the finish line. Kyle Busch was leading the race but ended up getting loose and wrecking when he tried to block Tony Stewart. After slamming into the wall and getting hit from behind by Kasey Kahne, he ended up falling to 14th place. To go from leading with less than a half mile to go to finishing in 14th place because you got spun out would make anyone upset. The problem for Kyle was that the replay showed clearly that it was not Tony Stewart’s fault.
Kyle did not have the opportunity to view the replay before climbing out of his car, visibly upset. He went stomping down pit road toward victory lane, stripping off his gloves and his helmet because he was going to give Tony a piece of his mind . . . and maybe then some. About halfway down pit road the NASCAR officials corralled him. It took about eight of them to force him into a truck to be taken to the infield care center, where he could be checked out and persuaded to cool his temper.
I have been watching racing, involved in racing and behind the wheel of a race car long enough to have seen this scenario played out many times. In this case it didn’t lead to a fight or the loser slamming his car into the winner’s car like it usually does. In this case NASCAR officials got to Kyle first and gave him a chance to cool down and maybe even see the replay so he knew that he was not wrecked on purpose.
How many times in our lives have we let our emotions control our decision making and our actions? I am as guilty of this as anyone. But I have gradually come to realize that as emotions go up, intelligence goes down. We all need to concentrate on leaving emotion out of major decisions in our lives. When we are emotionally attached to the outcome of something, it is like we have blinders on to the rest of the world.
I have seen people so emotionally attached to a relationship that they stay in it even though it is suffocating them. I have seen people so emotionally attached to a business or investment that they refuse to see its failing until they are completely broke and sometimes buried in debt. The point: if you want to change your life, change your thinking. Leave your emotions at the door.
Remember: when emotions go up, intelligence goes down!
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Showing posts with label speed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speed. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Adversity Builds Character?
One of the reasons I love sports in general is because it is encouraging to see individuals and teams overcome extraordinary adversity to claim victory. Stories of the human spirit are played out right in front of you. When the underdog or a horse with 50 to 1 odds wins, I realize that if you believe in yourself and your team, you can overcome any obstacle in your path.
Back in the early 80’s, way before all of the safety advancements of today’s NASCAR race cars, Ricky Rudd was in a serious accident during the Busch Clash at Daytona. His seat broke, and he was bouncing around in the car as it rolled. His window net came down, and his arm was flailing around outside the car. He was taken to a local hospital, where doctors wanted to keep him overnight for observation. He had suffered torn cartilage in his rib cage, and prospects did not look good for his racing in the Daytona 500. Ricky, however, wanted to get back to the track to continue practicing for the biggest race of the year. When his wife Linda pleaded with him, Ricky got up and walked over to a mirror in his hospital room, where he saw how badly his face was swollen. He gave into the pressure and decided to stay the night.
The next day he was back at the track to practice in a back-up car. When he got up to speed and went barreling into the turn, he lost his sight. He could see nothing, even though he was completely conscious. Not being able to see at 180 mph was not a good feeling. When he got back onto the straight-away and slowed, however, his sight returned. Ricky figured out that the g forces at those speeds in the turn, coupled with how severely his face was swollen, forced his eyes closed no matter how hard he tried to keep them open.
His solution: tape his eyelids to his eyebrows so they wouldn’t be able to close. His crew tried this, and when Ricky went back out on the track to practice, he had no problem. Ricky ended up racing the Daytona 500 to a very respectable 7th place finish at speeds of nearly 200 mph. The very next week he came back to win at Richmond.
I often hear that adversity builds character. This may be. What adversity really does is reveal character. We face challenges every day in our lives. The way we address them is a direct result of the kind of character we have. In these challenging times we need to remember what we are capable of overcoming. We need to push forward through the pain, because victory is waiting for us on the other side.
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Back in the early 80’s, way before all of the safety advancements of today’s NASCAR race cars, Ricky Rudd was in a serious accident during the Busch Clash at Daytona. His seat broke, and he was bouncing around in the car as it rolled. His window net came down, and his arm was flailing around outside the car. He was taken to a local hospital, where doctors wanted to keep him overnight for observation. He had suffered torn cartilage in his rib cage, and prospects did not look good for his racing in the Daytona 500. Ricky, however, wanted to get back to the track to continue practicing for the biggest race of the year. When his wife Linda pleaded with him, Ricky got up and walked over to a mirror in his hospital room, where he saw how badly his face was swollen. He gave into the pressure and decided to stay the night.
The next day he was back at the track to practice in a back-up car. When he got up to speed and went barreling into the turn, he lost his sight. He could see nothing, even though he was completely conscious. Not being able to see at 180 mph was not a good feeling. When he got back onto the straight-away and slowed, however, his sight returned. Ricky figured out that the g forces at those speeds in the turn, coupled with how severely his face was swollen, forced his eyes closed no matter how hard he tried to keep them open.
His solution: tape his eyelids to his eyebrows so they wouldn’t be able to close. His crew tried this, and when Ricky went back out on the track to practice, he had no problem. Ricky ended up racing the Daytona 500 to a very respectable 7th place finish at speeds of nearly 200 mph. The very next week he came back to win at Richmond.
I often hear that adversity builds character. This may be. What adversity really does is reveal character. We face challenges every day in our lives. The way we address them is a direct result of the kind of character we have. In these challenging times we need to remember what we are capable of overcoming. We need to push forward through the pain, because victory is waiting for us on the other side.
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Only 3 Days Left!
It feels like coming down to the last few laps of a 500 mile race to be so close to the start of the Fast Lane to Success blog starting on April 1st. This has been in the works for a while and I am very excited to bring you my life experiences as well as those of many others who have found out how to win at life. This blog will consist of stories of success and stories of overcoming hardships to finish on top. We will review authors and their books. Check out some of the best websites. This blog will be full of tips and techniques that will help you drive full speed ahead towards you goals. Whether you're looking for ideas to take your business to the next level or high impact personal development you will find it here. I look forward to seeing you here on April 1st for the beginning to the Fast Lane to Success blog.
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
Erik Elsea
www.erikelsea.com
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