Shake and Bake

Dale Earnhardt Jr. once said, ~Target is to run as good as you can every week. Everything else takes care of itself. We just got to go out there and race as hard as we can, take the car we got, do the best we can with it every week.~ In some aspect, life can in a sense be like racing in NASCAR as each of us are in a way going head to head against not only friends, but also adversaries as well vying for that proverbial checkered flag being waved in our favor when experiencing victories that considered to be either small or huge. For the checkered flag is a representation of our hopes, dreams, goals, true happiness, etc. that most definitely motivates one to give it all he's/she's got in order to follow closely behind the person in front of you, stay side by side, or possibly be the leader of the pack.

Let me ask you this question, when it comes to being on the track of life are you strapped in, revved up, and have your game face on similar to that of the Intimidator Dale Earnhardt Sr? Thinking about it, NASCAR is a sport that is all about facing overwhelming challenges as a driver works his/her way to establish himself/herself as THE best or one of the best drivers in the game. You see, you have to have that competitive spirit in you and exude a winner's mindset or you'll end up feeling absolutely frustrated for always seemingly coming so close to victory ala JD McDuffie. In any case, that is how many of us are/should be when it pertains to our professional lives as we work hard day in and day out doing the best job one possibly can in hope of adding to our own individual point standings of life receiving a well deserved reward in the process such as a promotion.

Without a doubt, in any NASCAR race there will always be potential problems for a driver that either need to be fixed, cut/ripped off, or pounded out/in to make the car run better. It's at that point, a driver pulls into pit row where one's personal pit crew tries their very best to keep you in the race, so to speak. If you think about it, it's comforting to know whenever we suffer damages/breakdowns in a mental, physical, emotional, and/or spiritual way you can count on your pit crew of best buds/gal pals who can try their very best to in all intensive purposes help pound out/fix, in a manner of speaking, whatever problems/difficulties you may be experiencing on any given day. Let me tell you something, to have a pit crew you can truly trust who knows you so well inside and out to the point where they will not let you down when you need them the most.

For the question can be asked, what is the one thing that every driver needs to help guide them through not jut well planned pit strategies, but also to victory lane if/when a win happens? For any die hard NASCAR aficionado, having a great crew chief on your team is one of the most important aspects to have as he is the quintessential glue that holds the team together. Essentially, the crew chief that holds all of us together is God and just like a driver is able to communicate with the main man by way of a headset we are able to communicate by praying to Him. Oftentimes, we can lose our composure when we feel like we're being blocked in on all 4 side to where we find ourselves at a complete disadvantage leading us to lose our composure and that is when we go to the Lord in prayer when we're faced with obstacles we think are sometimes absolutely unpassable.

In retrospect, life can be a heart pumping 200 plus mph adrenaline rush where you will/currently are experiencing times of ending up against the wall/part of a multiple car wreck either by your own stupid mistake or by someone else's fault to where you're temporarily knocked out of the race possibly suffering a mental, emotional, and/or physical injury. It can be a difficult situation indeed to strap yourself back in experiencing doubt as to whether or not you're ready, especially when it involves matters of the heart. Ultimately, you just have to take each race day by day as you knowingly or unknowingly will suffer mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual dents/dings/scratches you know you can overcome as you have the best pit crew by your side. In the end, leave everything on the track of life as you give it 110% knowing someday you will shake and bake towards victory lane with a checkered flag in hand.