Just got home from church and flicked on the TV. I don’t watch a lot of sport but I don’t mind watching the second half of the Bathurst 1000 race….for my older readers remember when it used to be called the Hardie Ferodo. Anyway as I am sitting here watching the cars go round and round the Bathurst track, I got to thinking: What are the life lessons that we can take away from the Bathurst race? So here are the ones I came up with:
1) Sometimes in life storms come, but you just need to adjust your equipment in order to keep moving forward even though the road surface of life has changed.
2) No one is an island. We all need a ‘pit crew’ of close friends, loved ones and people who will cheer you on and do all they can to enable your success.
3) Sometimes we need to pull out of the race and get refueled, re-tyred and a new set of brake pads. This is a metaphor for having a holiday, having some down time and keeping your soul and mind sharp, fuelled up and ready for the next set of laps.
4) Sexist attitudes are out of place in the context of life….Driver David Reynolds was fined $25,000 for describing the all girl team as the ‘pussy wagon’….And misogynist attitudes in life should attract punishment. We wonder why Australia has an out of control domestic violence problem, well maybe because this is the level of respect we give our women. Imagine if all men treated women as equals.
5) Sometimes in life you get taken out of the race by the mistakes of others, but you can either accept a ‘Did Not Finish.’ or you can try your absolute hardest to get back into the race. The all female team crashed early in the race because there was brake fluid on the track from another car, but they made the comment that they would work as hard as they can to get back into the race.
6) Even though the drivers are fierce competitors, when one is hurt such are Chaz Mostert the other day, suddenly common humanity unites in well wishes. In life we must always remember that under the surface, our common humanity unites us and whilst we are in the race and the hustle and bustle of daily life, we can at times lose that sense of our common humanity its refreshing to realize that we are all pretty much the same….fighting our fears, dealing with some significant challenges, in desperate need to appreciation and wanting to make a difference in life.
7) There is an incredibly complex strategy that each team employs in order to have a chance at winning. In other words there is planning, organization, and serious intentionality in all that they do. Life is like that. To have a plan, to set some goals, have a bucket list and not just live each day as a victim of time but rather as someone who seizes the day, will ensure you have an effective race.
8) I used to play a computer car racing game called R Factor. One of my favourite tracks to race on was Bathurst. I became awesome at it. In fact I was a legend on the Bathurst track….Now if I was to get in a real race car and drive for real in a Bathurst race I would suck pretty bad at it. Why? Because what happens in simulated life programs on digital devices does not reflect or prepare you for real life….So maybe spend less time on your digital device and more time in real life.
9) They just announced that the crowd at the race today is a record crowd of 204,000. Life lesson here is that there are more people cheering you on in life than you think. You aren’t alone. People around you are there for you to support you and celebrate your successes.
10) Chatting with a mate Matthew from Canberra who is also watching the race, about life lessons and his contribution was that each one of the drivers would have had a dream about driving in the Bathurst 1000 all their life and so the life lesson is:- have a dream and pursue it with everything in you.
So be inspired in your race.
Ps Peter
Categories: Life
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