Grinding Through The Years

When trouble occurs, there is no way past it without going through it. I've never been a fan of trouble. I've led a quiet and safe life, have kept my nose clean and have avoided the wrong crowd and poor choices pretty well in my almost 60 years on this spinning orb we call Earth. Even with following the straight and narrow path, you just can't avoid hardship in some fashion. Many folks seem to bring trouble with them everywhere and are always fighting everything, while others seem to flow through life on a cloud and nothing affects them. What I've realized in talking to folks is that no matter what the appearance is of the person on the outside, inside we are all battling something. It helps to give everyone including ourselves a little grace in that we are not immune to the struggle, it's all a part of the human experience.

I look at my life and consider myself extremely lucky. Call it blessed, call it fortunate, call it whatever you like, but it's overall been a pretty easy and fun run. When it comes to my life with cars, I would even bump that up several notches and call it destiny that I have spent my life surrounded by amazing machines and have greatly enjoyed the company of so many awesome car people, wherever I have gone. Being the son of a cool car guy and growing up with his stuff all around me (including the Porsche 356 featured in this issue) set me in a good direction, I think, to do what I have done and become the man that I am. I tend to focus on the wins in my life and not the hard stuff that I had to go through to get there, and that's probably a smart thing for general happiness, but it does mean I often forget how much it hurts to go through a rough spot. As I get older and hopefully wiser, I can anticipate and occasionally avoid some troublesome situations, but I also find my patience for enduring the hard things to be wearing thin. I do know that if I had thought too much about how hard any of my projects and builds would be, I probably never would have done any of them. I'm glad I didn't, it's fun to look back at what I have achieved.

My trouble these days is with motivation. My brain thinks I'm still in my 20s and unstoppable, while my body disagrees with that and makes it very obvious to me that I'm not. Looking ahead at my older friends, I see it even more clearly, the days of heavy lifting and going non-stop to build crazy cars or arrange big displays at shows are perhaps behind me, but I'm really struggling to come to peace with that. Every morning, when I scroll the local classifieds with my coffee searching for the next project to attack, the old man part of me starts yelling at me to take it easy and pick my battles. I'm still capable and my visions of what to do with any car are more finely honed than they have ever been. I really think I've got some great projects in my future but I just might have to start finding other people to help make them a reality. Until then though, I'm going to continue to try and push past that troublesome old man and see if the younger man can make it through.

Wherever you are and whatever project or challenge sits before you, just know that you are not alone. Reach out for help if you need it, take a break if you can to notice the blessings and beauty of the world around you. Put on some good music, shut your mind to the dark thoughts and fears of the world, and just keep trudging forward. Each step you take, bolt you turn, or effort towards your final project will have its reward. And if you see someone struggling, or stopping on a challenge, offer to lend a hand or at least bend an ear to let a fellow human vent a little. We all need a little help now and then, and we are all in this life thing together. It's so much easier to face the challenges with someone along for the ride.