 Spring
Tune Up
by Nika
of racerchicks.com
How many times do
we find ourselves spending our last dollar on
racing. “Only the best for my baby” refers to
our beloved race car as we gaze at the
mountains of “not good enough” parts
reproducing on the shop floor. When warmer
weather arrives we automatically think racing
season and begin our “Spring Tune-Up”, but
sometimes we fail to “tune” the most important
thing – ourselves.
Okay – so maybe I
passed on those shoes I really wanted so that
my beloved vehicle would have the synthetic
oil he most richly deserved. The oil was
changed every 3000 km like clockwork and a
hand wash always followed – no swirling
brushes for my “Baby”. But when it came to
myself, I was lacking in attention ...where
was my lube oil & filter? I decided to
experiment and treat myself with the same
detail I would treat my car and guess what? I
loved it!
Now one of the
first things I did was to go for a manicure.
I’ve always had “working hands” that would dig
into any job regardless of the mess. Having
the manicurist gaze in horror at my grimy
grease lined paws made me want to bolt like a
dragster – but in the end it felt nice and I
thoroughly enjoyed it. A pedicure soon
followed. Now at least I could wear sandals
instead of Nomex booties. I called this my
tire rotation.
Finally after
looking like James Hunt - I knew a haircut was
in order. Asking for something that would
withstand “Helmet head hair” just made the
stylist gape puzzled. My facial I had after
proved that brake dust can and will come out
of ones pores (but don’t worry – the racing
bug never does). What I once felt was vanity
now was much needed pampering and I deserved
it. This was my wash & wax.
Our bodies are
like machines and in need of fine
tuning. This effort proved to be the most
difficult as I had to change my eating,
drinking, sleeping and exercising habits that
were by far similar to an oil spewing AMC
Pacer running on 1 cylinder. To tune my body
into a high performance machine I had to
change my low-octane fuel to something that
would power me better. As I started to eat
healthier and exercise I felt my machine gain
horsepower as well as lose weight – I’m much
quicker in corners now!
Recently I
received some e-mails from racerchicks
describing a conversation with someone that
berated them for their involvement with cars.
One young student was told she didn’t belong
in a shop class because of her gender and
another young woman was chided at length in a
mocking tone about how and what she SHOULD do
to her car. My initial reaction was to advise
a good swift kick to the perpetrator may get
the point across – but common sense prevailed
and I responded as follows. . There will
always be people out there who raise
themselves up by lowering those around them –
they are insecure mean spirited and not good
to have around. Mental housekeeping - get rid
of your association with them, their mission is to
bring you down and cause insecurity. Surround
yourself with the people that make you strive
to be the best you can be
We constantly
sacrifice for our families, friends, careers
and of course, racing. So there is nothing
wrong with taking care of ourselves once in a
while too! We work hard and have earned
it. Find time to read a book, take a
stroll and have a “me” day. No need to go to a
spa or gym – you can “try this at home”. And
most important, in those rare moments of low
self esteem, just remember that there are a
whole bunch of racerchicks out there like you,
who believe in you and are cheering you on.
For
comments, feedback and just plain greetings,
feel free to e-mail me at nika@racerchicks.com
or AOL IM "racernika"
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