“Doors and corners, kid.”

“Doors and corners, kid. That’s where they get you.”

-Miller; J.S.A. Corey, 2013

I had a bad habit of rushing into a room, not realizing that if you don’t clear the room, if you go into a room too fast, the room eats you. It’s a large chunk of the reason that my career in motorsports hit the snag it did last season. Rushing into rooms got me where it did in an expedited fashion, so I figured there was no harm in maintaining that habit. That was until my otherwise critical self rushed into one too many rooms ignoring the doors and corners and had the room eat me alive. I deserved it. I had it coming. And in hindsight, part of me is glad I suffered the way I did because the shot I took was one I could recover from. If I hadn’t taken that shot, the shot in the next room could have been fatal.

I’ve repeated “Doors and corners, kid” to myself so many times over the last year that I’ve actually considered getting it tattooed somewhere that I’ll see it when I’m about to make a rash decision.

When I received the notification that my primary objective was sidelined a few days prior to setting off for Road America, I could have very easily rushed into a state of downward spiral and done things that I would later regret. I instead took a step back and considered the room, cautiously walking into it rather than kicking down the door.

Once I was in, I admittedly still did not feel comfortable. I felt the eyes watching me. But rather than “shoot first and ask questions later” as I would have a year ago, I instead holstered my weapon and moved through the room cautiously. At the end of the weekend I made it out of that room alive. That wasn’t the case for myself a year ago.

It’s been a long, trying, and at times bleak, year, but the recovery is what I needed more than anything. I’m beyond grateful for those who warned me of the shots fired my way. They didn’t block the shot for me - I still got hit - but it was because of their warning that I’m still alive. In trying to move a team forward with the best of intentions, I got ahead of myself and that almost ended me, but because of those who had my back, we’re still here and doing better than ever.