Off the Cuff with Jacqueline Ross | October

By Jacqueline Ross

Greetings, Humans. 

I hope everyone has figured out their Halloween costume and is ready for a self-induced sugar coma.  Those candy Mellowcreme pumpkins always do it for me!  P.S…Not sure if I can use that in the beginning of my column, but I’m rolling with it!  We are 6 days out till my birthday. I hope everyone has their speeches ready!  If you have no idea what I’m referring to, peep last month’s column.  It will get you up to speed.

This month, I feel like I’ve taken a lot of trips up and down my own memory lane.  Traveling and processing through decades, years, and even just the last few months.  Sometimes, I go too far down the rabbit hole and wonder if I need a hug or 4 shots of Don Julio 1942. Other times, I receive clarity and a new perspective about my life.  

Steve Jobs said it best, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”  

Think about it. If certain events, fortunate and unfortunate hadn’t unfolded the way they did, you wouldn’t be where you are today.

A lot of people aren’t aware of this so allow me to enlighten you.  In 2010, I didn’t just stop racing moto and start coaching, I kept having a reoccurring injury.  After losing all factory support, my sponsors, and not being able to handle the mental pain of this injury, I made the choice to run away from the sport completely.  For 4 years, I didn’t just run away from the sport, I ran from myself, too.  Not a day went by that I didn’t think of motocross and the life that I use to live.  Bitter much, Jacqueline?  Yes, indeed I was.  

Fast forward a few years, I am semi at peace with myself and working full-time in the hospitality industry. Bartending at a night club and a restaurant and serving at a diner.  Sometimes, I think I would get 20 hours of sleep for the entire week!  I did have a little glimmer of hope and a silver lining through those years.  Somehow, I find the courage to get back on the bike which leads me to being at the track, talking to kids, and getting approached by a few parents: “You look like you know what you’re doing out there. Have you ever considered coaching kids?”   The dots are starting to connect.

Throw the pebble in the pond and watch the ripple effect.  Now, I am full-time coaching and working with all types of unique kids, ranging from the ages of 4 to 14 years old.  I am so grateful to have been given this gift of communicating so well with children.  These kids that I train come from different backgrounds, blended families, and some have to deal with their own personal adversities, but they all seem to share a common thread — Resiliency.

Sure, they get frustrated when things get challenging, but they don’t runaway or quit.  They struggle and they choose to continue.  It’s so inspiring to witness.  

I do my best to lead by example, but sometimes they’re the ones that show me the way.  From the questions they ask, to how curious, fearless, and excited they are, one can learn a lot about life from a child.  These kids have become some of my greatest teachers.  Their progression on the track is just the byproduct of what is happening inside of them.  Some may be more talented than others, but, at some point, that talent becomes a trap and runs out.  Anyone can learn a skill; character and heart are developed from within and will take you the rest of the way through life and motocross.

They don’t realize it now, but I hope, one day, these kids can look back and be proud of who they became as individuals, not just their accomplishments as motocross racers. 

I’m thankful for each and every one of you rad kids that I continue to work with and ones that I used to work with. Without you our dots never would have connected.  I always wonder, “who helps who more?”

See ya at the Mini O’s,

Jacqueline