What drives us to do the things that we do? I suppose there are many reasons. Hopefully, we are doing the things we love in life that make us happy or fill us with passion.
Some people devote their entire lives to that “one” thing that gets in their blood. That thing takes hold of them and moves them in a singular direction.
The first example that came to mind is addicts. They devote their lives to having that next drink or fix. All else falls away.
On a lighter note, a few “occupations” pull spring to mind. Like some athletes or coaches. Nuns. Performers. Certain parents. Chefs. Crooks. Politicians.
Oh, I’m sure there are many more.
Yet, the one I am thinking of today is Evel Knievel. Yes. The motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel.
Okay, he wasn’t born riding a bike. And he wasn’t named Evel, either. His name is Robert Craig Knievel, born in Butte, Montana, today, October 17, 1938. I know I’ve written about him before, but this time, I’m wondering what drives a person to do things like driving your motorcycle over cliffs, time and again.
Anyway.
Little Robert Craig Knievel, Bobby probably, was the first of two children of Robert E. and Ann Marie Keough Knievel. Their last name is German, as his great-great-grandparents emigrated to the United States from Germany.
It seems as though parents Robert and Ann didn’t see eye to eye on things. They divorced in 1940. So first, they had Bobby in 1938. Then Nicolas in 1939. Then Splitsville a year later. And then, to top it off? Both parents decided to leave Butte. They left Bobby and Nick to be raised by their paternal grandparents, Ignatius and Emma Knievel.
I bet they bought him a bicycle.
One thing is for sure. At the age of eight, they took little Bobby and Nick to a Joie Chitwood auto daredevil show. Knievel would later give “going to this show” credit to his career choice as a motorcycle daredevil.
Another thing is for sure. Knievel wasn’t much for schooling, as he left Butte High School after his sophomore year. He decided that working in the copper mines as a diamond drill operator would be a better idea. But he said he preferred motorbiking. He called “work” the “unimportant stuff.”
He must have been good at his job. He was promoted to surface duty and got up out of the mines. He drove a large earth mover. But it didn’t take long before Knievel was fired. One day while driving the earth mover, he made that large machine do a motorcycle-type wheelie. Not having great control, Knievel drove it into Butte’s main power line, leaving the city without electricity for several hours.
So there it is. We can see from early on this guy was devoted to doing tricks on a motorbike or anything else he could get his hands on. From the age of eight, he knew what he wanted to do and followed that “drive” until late in his life.
He did things like trying to jump the Caesar’s Palace Fountain in Las Vegas. He wrecked. He broke his pelvis, femur, wrist, hip, and ankles.
He tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho but failed. He wrecked. He only broke his arm and had some other minor injuries.
In fact. He wrecked a lot. He crashed more than 20 times and suffered numerous injuries. Most of the time, it was broken bones. According to the Guinness Book of World Records? He suffered 433 bone fractures by the end of 1975.
So yes. He had a passion for jumping motorcycles. But let’s face it. He wasn’t very good at it. To him, it didn’t matter. He suffered the consequences and continued to do what he loved. Or perhaps he started to do it for the money.
I’m not sure what is to be learned from this. We’re told we should follow our hearts when it comes to doing what we love. I guess it is the path we should follow so long that it makes us happy and isn’t harming anyone else.
So hang on tight and enjoy the ride.
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“Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.”
— Ray Bradbury
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“It’s what you choose to believe that makes you the person you are.”
― Karen Marie Moning, Darkfever
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“Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it.”
— Evel Knievel
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Take the jump. Break a leg.
