Random Thoughts with Will

     Last weekend, I went home to Virginia to see family. It was great to catch up with family and long time friends, not to mention experience that comfort that comes from being in the friendly confines of one's home. One other highlight of last weekend was going to the NASCAR race on Saturday night with my Dad. Over the years, we've enjoyed going to races in both Richmond and Charlotte. It's only fitting that after racing at Richmond last weekend, NASCAR is racing at Charlotte this weekend. While Richmond was short-track racing (the track is 0.75 miles long), Charlotte presents a different challenge for the drivers in the form of a "roval" (Road Course + Oval) with 17 turns and 2 chicanes.      Last year, when I watched the Charlotte roval race, I kept hearing the TV announcers say the word "chicane," not knowing what they were referring to. If anything, it kept sounding like they were about to say something else. Now, the term "chicane" is...

     When it comes to finishing second, there's a few phrases that view it as nothing more than an empty consolation. There's the phrases "second is just the first loser" and "the only person who remembers who was second was the person that go". You could take that step further with Ricky Bobby's life philosophy of "if you ain't first, you're last". People want to remember winners, not the person that almost won. It can be hard enough to remember winners at times, let alone remember the runners-up. Simply put, no one dreams of finishing second. And why would they? Being second means you're not the best.      Similar to finishing second, it's safe to say no one dreams of being second, either. It's not as glamorous to be someone's right-hand man as it is to be the one in charge. There's a reason the superlative "Most Likely to Become President" exists and not "Most Likely to Become Vice President...

     Growing up, Labor Day was never my favorite holiday -- mainly because it marked the end of summer vacation. The day after Labor Day was always the first day of school. Naturally, when the calendar inevitably rolled around to the first Monday in September, there was a sense of sadness. It felt like I was losing not just summer, but the freedom and joy that comes with it. That sense of loss was heightened as I got older, as this meant diving straight in to homework the first week of school.      Now, in the grand scheme of things, going back to school is a fairly trivial "loss". For some, it's even considered a "win" (especially for parents). Still, it can be hard to find joy in losing - whether that's losing a game, losing money, losing one's job, losing friends, and so on. There's a reason that there's an "everyone's a winner" culture and not an "everyone's a loser" culture. Everyone wants to be a winner, not ...