DEFINING SUCCESS

My dear old long-departed mum and dad both had a number of sayings that I’d have to endure with monotonous regularity as a kid, but, as much as they sounded pretty lame at the time, and I would have thought that I hadn’t really taken any notice back then, it’s interesting to note how many of those old quotes have stuck, and by how much. My dad — who was born in 1903 and was a bit out of sync with the modern world — had some crackers that my brothers and sisters still recall with equal measures of amusement and horror, such as: “Children are of no more consequence than a fly upon the wall”, and “Fools, women, and children should never see a job half-done.” Mum, on the other hand, bless her, was a little more helpful — or at least she tried to be. One of her sayings seems to ring in my ears with more and more resonance each passing year. Throughout my childhood and then my teenage years, she would barrage me with what seemed an entirely hackneyed and irrelevant old line: “If you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything.” “Yeah Mum, whatever …” — silly old duffer; what does she know? What she knew, of course, was that the feelings of invincibility and immortality that we seem, misguidedly, to possess as adolescents and then as bulletproof teenagers don’t last forever. Mum understood the value of good health and general fitness, and she’d be incredibly proud of all of her kids — with the possible exception of me — for their adherence to her culture. My oldest brother, Noel, works crazy hours running a successful business, and placed midfield in the 2016 New York Marathon — at 73 years of age. My other brother, Paul, aged 70, is working longer hours than people half his age, designing and constructing incredible public sculptures throughout Australia. While he knows he’ll need to start thinking about retirement one day, the commissions are pouring in from every corner of the country. One sister, Raewyne, still works full-time at 76 years of age, is involved in the art world, and goes out and walks a few kilometres for relaxation. My other sister, Rachael, at age 68, still works, is an amazing weaver, walks multi-kilometres for fun, and goes to music festivals. My fitness level pales in comparison with the fitness levels of my older siblings, but I do have great intentions of building it up. Uh-oh — I just heard another one of Dad’s old sayings in my head: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I guess what all of this seemingly irrelevant rambling is leading to is that I’ve come to realize that true success isn’t having the biggest house or a few million dollars in the bank — neither of which applies to me! — or even having the fastest set of wheels in town at age 30. There’s another wellknown saying, often printed on tin signs and the like; it goes: “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” I’m pleased to say that isn’t one of Mum’s or Dad’s sayings, because it’s bloody stupid. You don’t win at all, do you? You’re still fucking dead. Better to live a long life, have good health, and still be doing whatever it is that you love into the latter part of your life. In circuit racing — unlike drag racing, where you can get away with a beer belly and a hangover — good physical fitness is as essential as good steering geometry or brake balance. When Linda was racing at Christchurch earlier this season, we were pitted next to a guy by the name of Jim Wallace. His recently acquired BMW race car was a former European Touring car. Jim had brought two over from Europe — one to sell and one to race. Quite a weapon it is, too, particularly if you like BMWs. When we saw Jim at Timaru International Motor Raceway a few weeks later, he was racing another BMW, a red one this time. Don’t ask me about models and sub-models of any German cars — don’t know; don’t want to know. It was Jim’s regular race car. Bloody quick it is, too, and, despite its six cylinders, it made most of the V8-powered race cars in his class look slow. It was also very clear that Jim’s a damn quick driver. What really caught my attention was that, rather than do the regular three races for his class during the race day like everyone else, Jim wanted to pack more racing into his day by cross-entering his car into another class. So, in one meeting, Jim did two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions, and six races. The real-impressive part of this? Jim Wallace — super-fit, great character, and loving his racing as much as anyone — is edging towards 75 years of age. Jim, you’re a bloody inspiration, and if my mum was still around, she’d be rightly saying, “See — he’s only able to do that because he’s got his health!” So, right there, within Jim Wallace, is, I believe, the true definition of success: living a full life, and maintaining the health and fitness you need in order to indulge your passion, whatever that may be, well into your 70s — that has to be as much as we mere mortals can hope to achieve during our time on this earth. I can hear you saying that it also takes money — and, yes, Jim’s obviously been successful in life to be in a position to fund what he’s doing now, but I also met another guy at Mike Pero Motorsport Park, who must be in his late 60s if not 70, racing a mildly modified and super-reliable Toyota Starlet and having a hell of a time. Running that car would cost next to nothing, but he’s probably having as much fun in it as the guys who race on 20 times the budget. So, Mum, many years after you gave it, your astute advice is finally registering, and being heeded. Oddly enough, it is cars that are pivotal to my grasping this simple principle. Since I was a 10-year-old kid, I’ve aspired to circuit racing, but hot rodding, classic cars, and drag racing all conspired to steer me off in different directions for the following 45 years — none of which, I should be clear to point out, I have any regrets about. Here I am now, at age 55, and I’ve finally taken the plunge into circuit racing, and it looks, at this stage anyway, as if this might be what I want to do with the rest of the time available to me on Planet Earth. Will I get just the one season I’ve had, or, like Jim Wallace, will I get 20 seasons? The one thing that will determine that is … health. Because, the older we get, the truer it is: if you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything. Which just proves that we should all listen to our mums, eh?

IT’S AS GOOD AS WE CAN HOPE TO ACHIEVE DURING OUR TIME ON THIS EARTH