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s t e p u p . s ta n d o u t. 3 4 Tyler Tenebarge continued house, and my uncle was out in the field. I was stuck. I didn’t know if I was going to make it. A little later, I heard a faint tractor in the distance. “Please, please let that be someone who can help.” The tractor became louder, and the next thing I knew… …I woke up at the house in my own bed. Mom checked me over as she talked on the phone with a nurse. They said I would be fine after a little rest and some medicine. I thought, “How did I get out from under the three-wheeler?” Then, my family told me what had happened. Uncle Bill had been watching me as he worked. He saw the three-wheeler flip over on me. It took him a while to get there on the tractor, and once he did, Uncle Bill single-handedly lifted the over four-hundred pound three-wheeler and threw it yards away, before rushing me to the house. If Uncle Bill had stopped to consider whether or not he could lift four hundred pounds, what would have happened? He didn’t second guess himself, though. He believed in his ability. While we hope to never experience a crisis like that, we can learn from it. What if we trusted ourselves every single day? Say you’re thinking about asking the prettiest girl out on a date, maybe you want to try a new Career Development Event, or you want to befriend the guy sitting by himself at lunch. Go for it! Don’t think about not being able to get that date or to win your CDE. Trust yourself. Don’t think about what your friends may say when you take a seat beside the guy at lunch. You may be asking yourself, “What if people laugh at me when I sit down? What if I get in front of the judges, and they don’t like my speech? What if my voice cracks when I ask her out?” Stop. Stop doubting. When we doubt, we miss a moment to gain insight on what we are meant to become. That girl may be your future wife, public speaking could become a career, and that guy sitting at lunch, his life could be changed forever because of you. Trust yourself. After moving on from ATV racing, I wanted more insight on what I was meant to become. With racing out of the picture, people continued to ask about my future. Actually, I clearly remember a conversation one afternoon two years ago. That day, I was driving around in my hometown of Haubstadt, Indiana. I came to a “T” in the road, and I felt a strange feeling I should turn left instead of right. I trusted myself, like Uncle Bill taught me. After turning, an older friend of mine, Gary, waved for me to stop. I pulled over and hopped out of the truck. We began to talk. His first question was, “What are you going to become?” I began to share some of my frustrations. “Some of my friends just want me to stay close to home. A few mentors want me to go into politics or business, and others want to see me do other careers!” As I spoke with Gary, I felt something pulling at me, trying to get my attention. It was calling; it was tugging; it was gnawing at my heart. I thanked Gary for waving me in, and I left. I walked away from that conversation with a strange feeling. Something was different, and I didn’t know what it meant. That day I trusted myself to turn left, but that wasn’t enough. I needed to
s t e p u p . s ta n d o u t. 3 5 Tyler Tenebarge continued listen—listen to a voice within me. This past summer, I realized what I needed to listen to. It was midway through a conference for state officers. Late one night, my teammate, Zach, and I were preparing for the next day. First, we had a meeting with our coach. I rushed down the hallway toward our meeting room. On the way, I saw Devin, one of the state officers, sitting in a corner. I noticed he was silent with his head in his hands. No one else was around. I felt like I should try to comfort him. I had a seat beside Devin, and he began to cry. Because he couldn’t even muster up the voice to speak, he pulled out his cell phone and began texting what he wanted to say. He showed me his phone, and it said, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to go back to my job—I can’t…” Devin has a passion for horses, and he plans to become a veterinarian. He has to balance his time between working with horses at the rodeo, school and serving as a state officer. Those he works for though don’t understand how state office will undoubtedly benefit his future. The voices of those he works with are holding him back. They don’t always see eye-toeye, and they are really hard on Devin. He began to question what he was meant to become. Listen. Turn off the world. What do you hear? As he talked even more, I thought, ‘He needs answers. He needs my advice. Wait—if it’s people that are making him question, does he really need to add my voice as well?’ Just like Devin, we all have moments that make us question who we are meant to become. When we are most frustrated and challenged, we don’t need voices surrounding us. We need something only we can hear. Call it your gut feeling, maybe it’s your heart, call it your conscience, call it God; no matter what you call it, a voice within you speaks. Listen to it. Like Devin, in difficult times, we Listen to gain insight on what you are meant to become. must trust ourselves and listen. We search for insight on what we are meant to become. We listen to our parents, teachers, friends, television, the news, music, the “cool” kids at school and society as a whole. Voices surround us and make us question. We try to trust ourselves, yet we forget the most important voice of all. So, get away from it. Turn off the TV. Walk away from the crowd. Close your eyes to pray. When we get to where we can’t hear anything at all… …that’s when we hear the voice inside each of us. Listen. Turn off the world. What do you hear? Listen to gain insight on what you are meant to become. Devin and I finished up our conversation over an hour later. Zach and I had our meeting, and I headed to the bed. I thought, ‘Since third grade I have been trying to figure out what I’m meant to become. Devin is getting there because he listens to an inner voice.’ There have been times where I have had that same voice speaking to me, like that day with Gary. Something happened that day. Something was trying to get my attention, and I ignored it. Every time I think back to that day, I know I was being told something. Ever since then I have been trying to figure out what it was. As I’ve learned to trust myself and listen, it’s helped me evaluate what was going on in that moment. And now I know I was being told very clearly what I am meant to become. I trust. I listen. I know. That day in third grade, I sat in my chair with utter confidence and conviction in who I would be. And today, I do the same. I have considered hundreds of careers. I opened myself up to be anything. I sought insight from so many. Now, I trust myself. Now, I listen. After I stood up in front of my friends that day as a third grader, I began to doubt. Today, I won’t. I am going to become a priest. Since third grade, I have known, but it has taken me this long to realize it…to admit it. I was asking and looking, thinking and praying. I just wanted insight so I could find out what I was meant to become. When I started to trust and listen, I didn’t need insight. What I was meant to become was in sight. It was right in front of me. What about you? What is in sight? Maybe you know. Maybe you’re searching. No matter where you are, trust yourself. Listen to the voice within you, and you’ll know. Trust and listen. Find who you are supposed to be. Friends, it is right here, in this moment. Who you are meant to become is in sight.
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