Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

Lisa Aguilera – August 9th, 2010

I’m a geek. If you didn’t know before, this blog will leave very little doubt. So, I was reading a book “Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think differently” months ago. In one of the first chapters, they say that the best way to build new neurons (get a bigger brain) is to throw yourself into new situations, such as visiting a new country or learning a new language. I’ve been traveling to Europe since 2003 for Track and Field, so I’ve already visited many countries. Yesterday in Germany, I decided to spice things up (build new neurons, whatever) and rent a car. I’d only taken the trains previously. What a day! First, I get into the car and see that it’s a stick shift. Oh yeah, my German friend Lilli just told me how it’s really hard to find automatic cars in Germany. Oops, forgot. I think, ‘hey, I drove a stick 13 years ago, I can do this.’ Waaaait a minute. I can’t figure out how the key works. Five minutes later I realize there’s a button you push on the key fob to pop the key open (it’s harder then you’d think). Okay, I can start the car now. The car is conveniently parked on the 4th floor of a pretty remote/empty parking garage in a position where you can just pull out forward. It’s in a pretty tight spot, so I pull it out to get my luggage in. I get my luggage almost in, when a car pulls up behind me and I realize I’m right in the middle of the lane and they can’t get around. I hurry with my luggage, jump in the car, try to put it in first and of course, crumble under the pressure, and stall out. Car behind me’s getting antsy. Second time I succeed with first gear and drive around the parking garage in a circle. Then I see a spot and think I should park the car for a second to look at some maps. I try to reverse the car and #Fail (this is twitter lingo). I can’t reverse the car at all. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I take another swing around the parking lot and park in a really empty area. I open up google on my blackberry and start watching ‘How to Drive a Stick’ Youtube videos in the 4th floor of this parking garage. I start googling ‘How to reverse a stick’. I spend at least 15 minutes trying to reverse the car with my blackberry, google, and youtube without any luck. I’m imagining the Kill Bill scene where Uma keeps saying “Wiggle Your Big Toe”, only I’m saying “Reverse the Car”. Then I talk myself out of it. Forget this! Forget building new neurons! What if I cause an accident!? I don’t remember how to downshift, I don’t remember if I have to have the clutch in when I break. I’m completely clueless! I go to the little office where the security guard lady is sitting and explain my dilemna. I tell her how most cars in the US are automatic, and I forgot how to drive a stick, and I can’t even reverse the car and I’d like to return it. She was like, ‘I can teach you! It’s super easy!’. I was like, ‘Really? Are you serious woman? You are really okay with me driving your rental car and stalling it repeatedly?!’ Haha…she was like, yeah, lets just drive around the parking garage a few times. First off, we get into the car and I can’t even start it. She wiggles the stearing wheel (oh yeah, my car at home, that I’ve driven for the past 3 years has that exact same security feature…slooooow). She then shows me the super simple trick to reverse the car…there’s a plastic metal ring right below the handle that you have to pull up before you can move the position of the stick to reverse. Soooo easy!! We drive a few times around the garage, she reminds me of all the simples rules of shifting gears. In Germany they use kilometers, so the easy way to start is to use gear 1 up to 10km, 2 for 20km, 3 for 30km etc, but with practice you learn to hear by sound when it’s time to shift. Anyways, she totally gives me the confidence boost I needed to build these new neurons. She’s like, “You’re really good. You’re so much better then other people that I drive with. You’ll be just fine.” Now this is a situation where I could actually see what a difference confidence made. It was so black and white. Sometimes with racing, there’s a gray area. I don’t know if it comes with thinking too much or what. But there have definitely been times where I believed I could do it, and I felt like my body failed me. This situation was different. I was talking to myself (yes, out loud), saying, “You can do this Lisa. You can drive a stick. It’s just like riding a bicycle. Positive affirmations. You know, all that crap.” And it worked!! I somehow managed to get on the autoban and I was completely fine!! I even managed to get a couple twitpics on the road I can’t even count how many new neurons I made…but it was great! AAAND it also given me a newfound respect for confidence, and how much of a role it plays and how important it really is in all aspects of life. Yesterday it was the difference between freedom and being tied down to a train schedule. Next up? I wanna learn to ride a motorcycle in London! (kidding mom)

Support women's sports and SHARE this story with your friends!

• Track & Field
• Sports
• SportsPLUS
• Travel
• Personal

View Original Post at lisaswaterpit.com

View aggyrun's Full Profile