Journey of The White Bear #9: A tiny change can change the course of your life

This clip is the first BMX track I ever saw in person and raced at, built behind Fort Boise, in a drained sewer pond, at the edge of the foothills on the north side of Boise.  I went with three guys from the trailer park to a race in October 1982, and watched as the other three raced.  The next weekend we piled all the BMX kids and bikes into my dad's van, and we all raced the last race of 1982.  We all won trophies, much to the dismay of the points chasing locals.  No one could figure out where all us kids on cheap ass bikes in T-shirts a blue jeans came from.  They really couldn't figure out why we were all so fast, considering we were all new to racing BMX.

Life Lesson: A tiny change in direction can lead to a completely different future

We just didn't have anything better to do outside of town in the trailer park, so we rode our BMX bikes every evening for six months, constantly pushing each other.  For me, what began as just another activity to do after school, turned into a vendetta against a couple of the guys in the trailer park that always made fun of me.  When I raced that first race, in the 17 novice class in 1982, my life turned slightly in different direction. That tiny change in direction, starting to actually race my BMX bike, changed the course of my life.  It happened at the sketchy little track above, a place unknown to nearly all of the 100,000 people living in Boise at the time.

In 1982, BMX bikes, because of their small wheels, were considered "little kids bikes" to most people.   Spending a couple hours a day riding one was considered a complete waste of time by my parents, my high school friends, and everybody except the other junior high and high school kids in the trailer park.  Obviously my BMX thing was just some crazy teenage phase, and I'd soon outgrow it, because there could not possibly be any future in it for me.

But it felt right to me, and I kept riding.  And then I came home with a little third place trophy from my first race.  Suddenly, BMX wasn't just something kids did to avoid homework, it was a sport.  A sport that I was kind of good at.  I started riding even harder, and started to dream about a future in the BMX world.

That's what I encouraged all of you reading this to do with the workshop in the last post.  Dream.  Dream BIG.  If you took the time to go through my workshop, then you now have a list of things you would like to do if you won the lottery or get an inheritance of your Uncle Bill's Apple stock.

Look at that list.  What really sounds interesting to you?  Let's say you listed a trip to Greece while answering the questions, and you later wrote that you'd like to see the ruins of ancient Greece and photograph them.  I'm just using this as a random example.  If that's what interests you, what can you do TODAY to start heading towards that goal?  You probably don't have money or time at the moment for a trip to Greece.  That's OK.  What can you do TODAY?  Look up Greece on Wikipedia.  read a little about the history.  Do you know what happened to Santorini Island back then?  Look it up.  Could you get a book or watch a video about Greece?  Could you make a trip to a Greek restaurant and ask the owner about the country?  You can't go wrong with a piece of baklava, trust me.

Now I know most of you probably didn't list Greece on your dream vacation list.  But look at the things you did list.  Take one small, but interesting, step towards those goals today.  Even if it's just a few minutes looking that subject up on the web, do it.  Or maybe you could print out a photo of that spot or activity to hang in your cubicle.  Take one small step today.

The reason I mentioned Greece was because when I first created my Clarity workshop, a trip to Greece was one of my dreams.  I saw the movie Summer Lovers while in high school, and wanted to go to Greece after that.  I never went.  But I did read up on Greece in the encyclopedia (Google it kids), and I rented a couple of documentaries about Greece.  I later tried some home made baklava at a convenience store near my house.  Years later I even worked for a taxi company owned by a Greek family.  For me, that was enough.  It was a subject that interested me, and I followed that thread for a while, but other interests seemed more interesting, and I followed those.

You'll find the same thing to be true.  Some of the things you wrote down in the Clarity workshop seem like things you really, really want to do right now.  When you start following those dreams in a small way, you may find that those things are just a passing interest, or something you want to experience.  That's just fine.  As you evolve and grow in life, some interests will come and go, and some will grow and become an important part of your life, like BMX did for me. So take a small step today towards one of your dreams today.  Then check back with this blog tomorrow.

I'm at a transition point in my own life right now.  For a variety of reasons, I haven't found a job in this area of North Carolina.  My eclectic work history doesn't play well in this conservative area.  That's fine.  I decided to create my own job.  I'm turning my art and writing into a small business.  I'll also be moving out of my current apartment, and will be homeless for a while as I get my business going.  If you have found this series of posts helpful, and would like to contribute to my future work, you can do it here.