D. I. COLUMNIST The Real Deal with Tommy D ' Aprile
One day over this most recent winter break, as I sat in the shop preparing for a weekend points race at nearby Bradenton Motorsports Park, I realized how fortunate I am to live in Florida, where the winter months bring beautiful weather rather than freezing temperatures. The months of November through April are some of the nicest in the country, and for that we are grateful. Living here most of my life, I tend to forget how fortunate we are to be able to race when many of you are shoveling snow and dealing with freezing temperatures. It has come to my attention that I need to be more grateful, and that’ s what I am going to talk about in this column.
So let’ s be honest: How many of you are grateful? It seems as though we are always looking for something bigger and better instead of being content. Many will say they are grateful when they get a raise or win a race or something good has happened to them. That’ s all well and good, but are you grateful for the little things in life as well? Our racing industry is notorious for making you look at new products while telling you that what you have isn’ t good enough anymore. I am sure most of you attended the PRI show and when you got home your stuff didn’ t look quite as good anymore. It’ s the same in our consumer-filled world. We don’ t have it, they say we need it, and if we don’ t get it, we will never be good enough.
A racer friend of mine won some very large money bracket races at the end of last year. He raced against some of the best in the business and the best money could buy and came out on top, not just once, but many times, and won the championship. The very ironic thing is that he won these races in the same car he used to race when I was a kid. The car is not new and is far from what the industry says you would need to be competitive, yet he still won. He later told that he has always been content and grateful to have what he has, and winning these races proved that he did not need to have the best equipment money could buy to win. His attitude is one of appreciation and thankfulness just to be a part of the sport he loves. Now I am not saying it’ s wrong to have the big, bad, fancy stuff if you can afford it, but if you don’ t have all the bells and whistles on your car, please stop comparing and be grateful.
I for one have been a guy who usually bought stuff I could not afford to impress people I didn’ t know or even like. Even when I had all the best stuff I still lacked something. None of it brought me joy and happiness, especially when the payment books came in. As I have matured, I have learned to be content where I am. That’ s the secret here. Always do your best and strive to reach new goals and heights, but be happy where you are now. You see, most people want to wait until they achieve all their goals to be happy, but the sad thing is most of them never get there. They get to a certain level and continue to want more. And as we all know or I hope you do, more is never and will never be enough.
Maybe we could all do a little better being appreciative of all the blessings that surround us. Stop looking around and start looking at yourself in the mirror and realize how blessed you are for being where you are now. If you can learn to be grateful in the circumstances you don’ t want to be in, then you will certainly be grateful when you reach new goals and achievements. Don’ t let You stand in the way of being the best and most grateful You that You can be. You get it?
As always, the choice is yours to make. Email Tommy at tommyd @ dragillustrated. com
July 2018
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