What does it take to drive a race car? Great reflexes help, as we recently learned in Indianapolis. When our family met there for Easter, we visited the Indy 500 race track and museum where we played an arcade game testing our response times to stimuli on the screen. For the most part, we ranged somewhere within the ninth to about fiftieth percentile, meaning, none of us qualified to drive a race car safely. Later on, though, two nephews joined us, neither of whom had ever played that game.
Intrigued, the first one who’s twenty-five years old, stepped up to the machine. With little input from us amateurs, he instinctively did something different. He took a solid stance, set his eyes on the center of the screen where the score tallied and didn’t move his head an inch one way or the other. All those stimuli could pop up wherever they wanted, but he kept his vision on the goal. The result? 73, a score he subsequently greatly improved with ease. Nathan could learn to drive a race car if he wanted to.
Then entered older brother, Austin, a trained marine who recently finished his service. Same stance, same modus operandi, and the result? 92. Yes, Austin could probably drive any race car in this world. What did the brothers have in common that was so effective? They knew how to determine the goal, fix their gaze, and handle all those scattered distractions with their peripheral vision.
Justifiably impressed, Aunt Marianne took note. We spend a lot of time in life reacting to what’s happening around us, don’t we? Every day all sorts of stimuli pummel our minds, demanding not only attention but resolution. Whether distractions, inconveniences, necessary reality, or even positive outcomes, a myriad of events pop up all over the landscapes of our days. Though they seem to emerge indiscriminately and randomly, no matter how they originate and appear, we have to respond somehow. No response is, in effect, a response, and sometimes, it can be a resounding one.
So what’s your goal for today? Can you stand on it solidly? Is it important enough to fix your attention without jerking, bouncing around, or getting off track? What kind of peripheral vision do you have to handle the interruptions of what you thought was a well-planned day?
The secret? Take your stance. Be confident. Fix your eyes and your mind on what you value most. Life is like a racecar track with lots of curves, people watching, other cars, rules, and peripheral events that can occur in a matter of seconds.
After all, there’s a checkered flag at the end. Generally, in motor sports, the checkered flag is standard because it can be easily seen in dust and the backdrop of crowds. With focused determination, we can see through all that dust and let go of what the crowds are doing.
It’s so worth it.
Copyright © Marianne McDonough, 2025