“You can drive through it. I know it. I know it in my heart.”

It’s in that moment, where you can turn things around.

When you drive through the smoke and believe in your own heart, you can do it. Nascar drivers, race car drivers in general are forced to do this. Believing they can do it, that they can pick a line and drive right through the carnage.

That was the turning point for Cole Trickle, suffering a horrific accident while racing Nascar, Cole had a hard time getting back in it. And there he was, going round and round the track when a large accident piles up in front of him. Because at this point, everyone was in front of him.

His belief lacking. The cars on fire, hitting the wall, spinning through the wreckage, smoke billowing.

Cole doesn’t know what to do, at this point he would probably prefer to be on the farm feeding his chickens. Lifting off the gas, his crew chief Harry comes on the radio, talking into his ear piece.

“Cole - You can drive through it, I know it. I know in my heart.”

He lifts off the throttle - pausing - hearing Harry.

Then…..

Then it happens. He steps on the gas, picks a line and goes full send, full throttle, right through the smoke!

Cars spinning around him, fires blazing, walls being crashed into.

Cole drives through it!

And then it’s race on. A life changing, mind changing, soul changing moment.

Why? Because that’s all it takes in life. One moment. One more try. One more push through the darkness. One more belief.

It’s funny because this movie popped back up the other day while racing with a few friends. Talking about another line in the movie where Harry tells Cole about special tires he put on to help him pass another driver where he was told previously not to pass them. Pretty sure it was toward the end of the same race. And how again, it was a moment of just believing.

I get it, believing isn’t easy, at times it feels nearly impossible. If you just believe one more time though, it’s that one more time that may make the difference. It’s the power of one more.

Looking fear in the face, being brave, knowing that fear is there but in this moment, what you want and deserve is on the other side of it. And YOU CAN DRIVE THROUGH THE SMOKE!

Be prepared though, there are those that won’t like you for driving through the smoke. For pushing yourself a little further.

Be prepared, it won’t be easy. There may be some pain, you may have to leave things behind. You may have to let some things go. It’s like boarding a plane, you can’t pack everything you own, you can only bring what’s important. Same goes for driving though the smoke. YOU CAN DRIVE THROUGH IT!

Be prepared for those that want you to crash. It’s unfortunate but some of those watching us don’t want us to succeed. They want to see us land on our faces. The haters, the doubters, the ones themselves who wouldn’t dare drive through the smoke. YOU CAN DRIVE THROUGH IT, AND THEM!

All that being said, today, tomorrow, later this week or next week. When you come up to a road block, a wall, a cloud of thick black smoke, drive through it. You can drive through it, I know it, I believe in my heart you can. 

I believe in you,

~Tim

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