Sometimes the universe sends you the right message when you need it most.
Last week, I watched in awe as professional race car driver Evagoras Papasavvas won his Formula Regional Americas Championship (FR Americas) race at Road America – the same day his classmates were receiving their high school diplomas at their graduation ceremony.
What an incredible story.
The most surreal moment for me, though, was seeing the PSNeverGiveUp logo – my logo – emblazoned across his visor and plastered all over the car for the world to see, while he celebrated his victory…
FINDING INSPIRATION
I first met Evagoras when he was 15 years old. He couldn’t legally drive on public roads, but was averaging about 150 miles per hour racing in the USF2000 series – a feeder program for IndyCar. (Another great story!) I learned that Evagoras, like my daughter Lola Jean, first got into racing by competing in local karting leagues.
About a year later, I followed up with Evagoras and his family when he moved up another level – earning a podium (finishing in SECOND PLACE) in his IndyNXT debut with HMD Motorsports at the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
FAST-FOWARD TO THIS YEAR
About a week or so before his races at Road America, Evagoras’ mom, Sally, reached out to me – saying that Evagoras wanted to display the PSNeverGiveUp logo on his car.
I was totally floored.
The fact that he was inspired by something that I had created in our basement at the height of the “pandemic” was, for me, validation.
When he actually WON and PSNeverGiveUp was on display for the whole world to see, it was just… surreal.
FINDING PURPOSE
At a young age, Evagoras knew what he wanted to do, and what he wanted to be. It reminded me of a recording I made with my dad when I was just four years old.
I outlined it all: “I’m gonna be a man.” “I’m gonna be on the stage,” and “sing and dance and talk in the microphone.” “And then, I’m gonna be on TV.”
I love that I still have that recording. I love the innocence of it, the genuine joie de vivre. Before the gatekeepers. Before rejection. Before chronic illness. The innocence of dreams yet unfulfilled – before the bitterness of actually knowing.
Four year old me had no clue what lie ahead of him.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
— Mark Twain
I’m proud to say I actually did all of those things. But it always felt like there was something missing.
PAIN AND PERSPECTIVE
It might sound strange but living with chronic illness has been the biggest blessing of my life. Seriously! Not because I particularly enjoy being in pain all the time, but because of the perspective it has given me.
I’ve been blessed to do a lot of really cool things in my life. I got to be on TV. I got to tour across the country playing music with friends. But the true appreciation for those things came from not knowing if I’d ever be able to do them again.
“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” – Carl Jung
I’ve also been fortunate to meet some really inspiring people along the way. It was through that sense of community and belonging that I found my “true purpose.”
In my more than 30 years of working in the public eye, I’ve always been much more comfortable being in front of an audience than I am in an intimate setting. It’s almost like a superhero putting on his super suit: all of my inabilities fade away. I feel invincible.
But I always wondered – what’s it all for?
LET’S MAKE AN AMAZING THING HAPPEN RIGHT NOW
The broadcasting and entertainment industries have changed dramatically since I first started in the business more than 30 years ago. Not only has technology changed the way we create and consume audio and visual “content,” the Internet has bypassed a lot of the corporate “gatekeepers” that kept talented people from reaching and developing their own audience.
I’ve seen and experienced some things in my career that have really made me question some of my life decisions – and made it really hard not to be bitter about the industry I once loved.
I always come back to the monologue Conan O’Brien delivered in 2010 after he had been very publicly recalled as host the iconic Tonight Show on NBC.
“To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now.”
– Conan O’Brien
My wife Amy has always been a runner. Just like a runner trains for a marathon, I feel that all of my life experience – my career, chronic illness and being a dad – has been my “training” to get here.
That’s why last week, I made the decision to step away from local broadcast television. I’m grateful for the many skills I’ve learned along the way, and the amazing people I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and learn from every day. Now it’s my time to “make an amazing thing happen.”
JUST GETTING WARMED UP
I came up with the idea of PSNeverGiveUp because I wanted to other people to know that they were not alone. I want to share stories of people who felt like giving up – but didn’t. I want to create a community to remind other people that, no matter what you’re going through, you’re not alone. Ironically, it’s that same community that constantly reminds me that I’m not alone, either.
We also launched The PSNeverGiveUp Foundation to give hope to other couples who are dealing with infertility while managing chronic illness.
Ralph Aldo Emerson wrote that the purpose of life “…is to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
That’s what PSNeverGiveUp is all about: making a difference. Seeing the PSNeverGiveUp logo on a winning race car (and the driver’s helmet!) was the affirmation I needed to know that I’m quite literally on the right track.