Hi all! I’m really proud of this #22 team and the way we finished in Kansas. It’s time to take on Talladega and make it to the next round. Thank you all for your support.
This week, we wanted to discuss something that has been on our minds throughout the season – the idea of “motivation”. We feel motivation is relevant in everyone’s life. Maybe you are not happy with your career and your current job has you feeling uninspired. Or maybe you are a college student with one semester left. You are tired of the late nights typing papers and early mornings boggling your brain. Whatever your situation, it can be difficult to keep your mind and eyes on the prize.
Unfortunately in racing, the situations that can affect your motivation are many times out of your control. Sometimes you get caught up in a wreck or cut a tire down. With the uncertainty and adversity of racing, it’s important to develop mental strength. Through constant mental conditioning, we can see past the current situation and are able to maintain motivation. Many times, the motivation is knowing there is an opportunity to come back next weekend or next season and perform better.
There are other aspects to our lives that keep us motivated too. The simple thank you card from a grant recipient or the trophies that are scattered at the shop all remind us that hard work and consistency breed results. For you, it might be the acknowledgement of your dedication at work or getting the test score you were shooting for. These are the things that let you know you are making progress and keep you motivated.
Just like the adversity we face in racing can change the trajectory of the race, adversity at home can change the trajectory of a child’s life. This is not to say adversity in racing can compare to some of the horrid challenges life can bestow on a child such as neglect/abuse. It’s hard to say how youth experiencing these challenges are supposed to sustain motivation. If you feel like you have nothing to look forward to, it is hard to keep on a positive track. Where is their next race or outlet (i.e. a job) to thrive and provide confidence? This week, we turn our focus to youth in crisis and an organization working to help families through adversity.
This Week’s Cause: Youth Well Being
In the United States, more than $23 billion per year goes to raising 550,000 children in the system. Not only is the dollar amount astounding, but the failed systems that run on this costly number are as well. The approaches historically used fail to see what children really need. Many times, it is to be reunited with their families. This type of model that reunifies families has been tested and with the right support, proven to be successful.
This Week’s Joey Logano Foundation Chasing Second Chances Non-Profit Partner: Youth Villages
This week we are excited to announce our CSC recipient Youth Villages. Founded in the merging of two residential treatment homes in 1986, Youth Villages provides numerous services and programs that help achieve their one goal: building strong families. Youth Villages helps more than 22,000 children and families each year, who come from more than 20 states. They provide intensive in-home treatment, adoption, foster care, residential programs, mentoring, crisis services, and much more. The organization helps youth ranging from birth to 22 (age out), although the majority of the youth receiving services from Youth Villages are between the ages of 12 and 17. Their model is based off the evidence that children thrive if they can be placed back with their families. This is done many times through multiple home visits from Youth Village professionals, or an out of home program that work to put the children and adults back together in harmony. There mission statement is simple; help children and families live successfully.
This week, we are reminded through the work of Youth Villages that the innocence of a child can be tainted by life’s hardships. Many times these children are not given another race to look forward to. The Joey Logano Foundation knows how important a second chance is and feels the need to step up and provide that additional race. We cannot leave these youth without motivation. We must give them a glimpse of hope, so they can make choices with guidance, not choices out of despair. When choices in despair are made, bad decisions are normally the result. Let’s give the future of America an opportunity to thrive. Thank you for your support and we hope you will check out Youth Villages’ site to learn more about them!
Brittany and Joey Logano
