If you were able to make it through the video of my crash in yesterday’s post – 5 Ways To Get Stronger/Smarter/Better After A High Speed Crash, then hopefully you picked up some valuable lessons that I learned from that crash. Or you maybe I’ve shattered your current image of my intelligence.

Either way, here are a few more things I learned:

• Over confidence can hurt – There is no doubt you have to be confident to drive a Formula car at high rates of speed, around tight corners and over blind hills. My problem was I was so confident that I knew what the other driver was going to do, I didn’t ask the question, “What if he changes strategy and hits the brakes?” I had no doubt that he was going to take that turn as hot as I was. Had I thought about it, perhaps I would have ended up in 8th place instead.

• Winning isn’t everything – And it’s not the only thing, either. As I was sailing through the air, I was able to shout out two “LORD JESUS” before hitting the first time. As you see me rapidly jump from my cockpit, you can see I wasn’t really that hurt. I have no doubt that the God of Heaven and earth was holding me as that car tumbled like clothes in a dryer. No matter how badly I want to win, knowing there’s a God who loves me like crazy is way more important. The crash was a very violent crash. But I love a God who is bigger than my crashes—one who can pick me up out of them, dust me off, kiss my wounds and put me back on track.

Sometimes in life, we don’t recognize the lessons that are right in front of us. When we don’t, we miss out on growing.

Question: What lessons have you learned from crashes in your own life?