12 Year old Jason Craig shares a personal life lesson that is appropriate for anyone at any age

July 3, 2006

I asked Jason to write me what he learned by competing (and winning)
the National Championships. Here is what he wrote:

What Fibark taught me by
Jason Craig

On the day of the prelims I didn’t think to much
about the competition. So when it rolled around I was
relaxed. On my first ride I didn’t do so good
flushing out twice and missing almost all of my
tricks. After consulting Stephen and Clay i nailed my
second ride putting a couple tricks down ending up in
first place coming out of prelims. That was kind of
"wow maybe I can win this" moment.

The next two days I was intense getting in the hole
whenever I could and thinking about the competition
non stop. By the time my competition came around I was
so focused about winning I forgot to have fun and
totally missed my first ride flushing out three
times. After that I mediated for a while, took a deep
breath and then headed out for my second ride. My
second ride I stuck most of my tricks and ended up
having a very good ride, landing me in second out of
that round . After that I remembered to smile and have
fun. With that attitude I came in first the next round
putting me in the top three. The whole rest of the
time I kept a smile on my face makeing it into the top
two in second. This time I went first, nailing my
WHOLE ride amounting to a massive 88 point
ride…Awesome. Alex who was in the finals with me had
a good ride.
They took about twenty minutes to anounce the winner.
Alex and I were both stoked that we made it into the
top two regardless of who won. Finally they
announced, Alex in second and me in first. One of the
coolest and most accomplished moments of my life.
For me this was not only a accomplishment but also a
lesson. That you do your best when you have a smile on
your face whether you win or lose.

Jason