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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