5 lessons from an average day

Today marked the second day of the tear down and rebuild of the ole’ YZ. After fighting with the lower steering bearing for most of the afternoon on Wednesday Jason and I thought we would try some outside help first thing this morning. At 8:00 am this morning I was waiting on Jason so we could head off to Heath Industries (no relation) to see if they could press the bearing the rest of the way down the shaft. Two minutes after arriving we were back in the car with a pressed bearing. Wow, we spent hours and they did the same task in mere minutes. Lesson number 1 for today was making sure to let people who have the right tools do their jobs. After getting back to the Croley race shop it was time to start on the rear end of the bike. This entailed six sets of bearing which had to be extricated, cleaned, re-greased, and put back into the swing arm. This sounds easy but as Jason opened each seal the realization hit that 4 out of the 6 bearing sets were not caged but free floating. This is where I learned lesson 2 for the day. Certain people have talents and the patience to see those talents through. These bearings are small and must be hand greased and then hand placed back in the rollers. Jason meticulously cleaned the bearings and then placed each bearing back into the rollers. What was more amazing is that he smiled and joked during the entire process. The talent is being able to stay single-minded and work on the tiniest of task like it is the most important thing at the time. The patience is seeing the job through until it is perfect, not just completed. After a few hours, some lunch, and lots of grease the swing arm was re-mounted to the frame. Day two for me was completed as it was time to get Brianna and head to the barn. Brianna and Johnnie had a busy day of riding drills to work on. This gave me lesson number 3 for the day. Lending a hand when needed is sometimes all you need to do. You see, Brianna is not that tall and Johnnie is. It is nearly impossible for her to saddle him by herself. Usually Michelle helps out but she will enter later in lesson number 4. Brianna had finished grooming her steed and was ready to ride. Even though she needs help she is still a stickler for the details. Trying to be a good dad I follow her every instruction and gently place the saddle up on Johnnie’s back even straightening the saddle that was actually straight in the first place. Once the saddle is in the right place I am asked to move so that the girth can be tightened. I did what was needed by me and then asked to leave. Some times that is all we are called upon to do. Just do the job. Now back to Michelle. She was lesson number 4 for the day: Quitting while you are ahead. Michelle and Yonka have been working on ground manners for a week or two now. Today after a very short but successful session on the lunge line I turned around and noticed that Yonka was in a stall eating dinner. I asked Michelle why she was done already and her response was one that every once and a while we should all abide by; “Today was perfect and I wanted to quit while I was ahead.” The day was coming to an end and the family was now at the house to actually have a home cooked meal. This is only amazing because for us this is a rarity and a treat. We eat together frequently just not at the house. Eating dinner together at the house is usually a pretty chill experience. Pull up a seat on the couch, talk about the day, and watch one of our family shows together. Lesson number 5 was actually from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb. Sometimes the silliest things can actually teach you a lesson. We don’t always have to be serious to learn something nor do we always have to enjoy what we are doing to learn. Five lessons woven throughout the day in a variety of environments. Man, if we just go through our days and don’t smell the roses or look at the trees we miss so much. Who knows what I’ll learn tomorrow since I’m playing golf, working out, getting the horses hooves looked at, and celebrating a birthday at Chuck-E-Cheese. I guess that’s lesson number 6. Learn from where you are so you can get where you want to be.