Dale Earnhardt Jr wins Daytona 500

Life is like a NASCAR race

We all have the ability to make some dreams we have come true. Other dreams are out of our hands; such as the dream we have to attend our favorite sports event on our own birthday and watch our favorite team/driver/athlete win.
The odds of winning the Daytona 500 are low, but a driver can still dream of crossing the finishing line first.

When dreams like those do come true, it is more meaningful-or at least it holds a whole different meaning in your heart.

I do remember when I was younger, long before I decided to consider being a NASCAR writer or fan, I thought it would be cool to attend the Daytona 500 on my birthday, I buried that thought away because I knew it was out of my hands. But it did happen and on February 23rd, 2014 not only did that birthday dream come true by my attending the Great American Race, I witnessed Dale Earnhardt Jr. win his second Daytona 500. I don't have many pictures. I was sitting far away - and I was busy living in the moment. I know those are the memories that are deeply engrained in my heart and will last a lifetime. The dream went from wanting it, to living it and now a memory.

Earnhardt Jr is the first guy I cheered on long before Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon-  anyone else for that matter.
The book Earnhardt wrote, "Driver #8" inspired me to write about NASCAR and then in 2010,after hours, weeks, months of research, it happened. I was led to a  NASCAR news site, and I attended several races as a journalist. Which leads me to discuss those dreams we can control- the ones we can turn into a reality.

Earnhardt is honest in the book, he allows his self to question if becoming a full time Cup driver would be his career. I doubt he thought he'd be an 11 time Most Popular Driver, and a two-time Daytona 500 champ some 15 years after writing the book.
I wonder, how much control do we really have over our lives, careers, successes and failures?

Earnhardt does want to win more races and he would if he did have more control.

Racing is circumstantial, just like writing. A driver can have the best car on the track, but that doesn't mean he'll win the race, another driver can spin out and wreck him.
I can post an article (blog) everyday, even twice a day. But that doesn't mean people will read it let alone like it or that publishers will pay me to write for them.
What I can control is how often I write and share my stories. I can control who I share my stories with and getting to know my audience. The more I put myself out there, the closer I get to succeeding. Just like the more Earnhardt races, contends in the top five, the closer he gets to the win.

For the last 4 years at Daytona, Earnhardt's finished second three of those years. A win was long due.

In racing, drivers do want to start on the pole but that doesn't mean they'll win. As a matter of fact, starting on the pole means you have to work harder to stay up front, and that can reek hazard to your engine, or someone can spin you out or you can crash and never finish the race.
In our careers, we all want to start on top. But that can't happen. We have to be able to educate ourselves about the job, we need to know where to start and immersing ourselves completely in our goals. We have to know how to do the job, and we have to be good at it before we are promoted. We have to know the business. Never take the short cut- and if you do- don't be surprised to fail.

  Making it to the top is hard, but staying there is even harder.