Katie’s Blog 8/30/11

Yesterday afternoon I stopped in to visit one of my sponsors, John Perry, who owns JP’s Paint & Body Works. They have been so amazing and sponsor all the paint on my bikes. It has been such a huge help to us, and has saved us so much money. I can’t thank them enough, but while talking to John he struck some inspiration in me to share some things in my blog that I wish I would have known when I started my racing journey. I was lucky enough a couple weeks back to get to share some of my experiences with a team of Girls For A Change members, so hopefully I can touch at least a few people with my experiences.

When I was in High School, I had a lot of great friends. However, I rarely went out and if I spent the night anywhere, I was gone by 5:30 in the morning and to this day that hasn’t changed. I have such a huge drive for racing, I spend a lot of my spare time in the garage. I love it, but I face a lot of criticism for it. There are people who tell me I am missing out in life, that I work too hard, that I am too uptight, and lots of things of that nature. Not only from people who I don’t really know, but also from people who I consider good friends.

When I began my path to ride a pro stock motorcycle, I have never felt so overwhelmed with negative criticism before. Once again from people who I really didn’t know, but also from people who I consider good friends. Then I was also facing comments at the race track from complete strangers. A lot of the time it would be guys who were joking around with their buddies, but they would make inappropriate jokes towards me or criticize my size, stature, or whatever they thought of that day. I would hold my tongue and try and be the bigger person and just turn and walk away. However, it was a really big challenge to get the criticism out of my head.

There have been times, when I have had to go in the motor home, or to the bathroom to get myself together. There has also been times when I have just had to call or find my mom and sister to vent too. It’s funny because I am so blessed to have so much great support in my life. I can’t believe all the people who have stood behind me, but there for a while in my life I was thinking more of the criticism then I was about all the support I had. I think it is so easy for people to take support, but criticism is a really challenging thing to take. This is especially true if it’s not constructive criticism.

The internet has also become a place for people to share their thoughts and opinions. Which I think is fantastic, but it also gives some people a sense of bravery. They feel compelled to say things they probably wouldn’t say in person. It is so easy to do that when sitting behind a computer. I have read some things about myself online that hurt me as well.

Now I want to be clear that the reason I am writing this blog is not for sympathy, it’s not to say poor me, because I feel quite the opposite. I have been able to learn how strong I truly am and have been blessed to learn some life lessons at a young age. The reason I wanted to share this is because I have learned that criticism can only keep you down if you let it. It’s so easy to get caught up in what people think of you as a person, but at the end of the day it really only matters what you think of yourself. If I had listened to the people who told me I couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t be here. If I had listened to the people who told me I shouldn’t have my nose pierced or my hair dyed 17 different colors, well then I wouldn’t be being myself. If I didn’t work so hard, I probably wouldn’t be on a pro stock bike.

If you can accept yourself and love yourself, you will go far in the world. Nobody on this planet should ever make you feel like you’re not amazing, and they never will if you don’t let them. You can’t please everybody, but you can please yourself. I also, share this because sometimes it is easy to be the one to criticize others, and I know I am guilty of it. Now that I know what it feels like to be on the opposite side, I try to make everything I say positive, because I want to see others reach their dreams as well. I hope you will all do the same and don’t forget to dream big!

- Katie

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