When life becomes a roller coaster, climb into the front seat, throw your arms in the air, and enjoy the ride!
Life is full of ups and downs. If you’re anything like me, more than once you’ve prayed to God to take away some of the low spots.
If I had only realized that the experience I was trying to avoid was actually a life—alters opportunity that shaped me into the women I am today, I would have yelled, “Hit me with your best shot!”
Knowing this after the fact didn’t make it any easier, but looking back I realized I am much better now for having endured it. Besides, I’d never have realized how high I have gotten without the perspective of how low I had actually been.
The real lesson to be learned is that we need to face our challenges head-on with grace, style and conviction.
A close friend of mine wrote me this quote. It touched a cord so I thought I would share it.
This is the time of year when the children break from their hectic routines of school and other activities and enjoy the summer. We leave one busy lifestyle for another. Going to the amusement parks around the country and enjoying a scary moment on a roller coaster can be included in the list of adventures a family embarks on during the summer holidays. If you have experienced this ride sit for a moment and recall the feelings that raced through you while you rode high in the air for a few spine tingling minutes of your life. I have always looked at life as a journey through a series of hills and valleys. Sometimes the valleys are so low that the tops of the hills are hidden behind clouds. It is difficult sometimes to believe there is another peak to aim for. A we enter each valley there is knowledge that the only way out is to climb back up the valley wall to the mountaintop where everything is so much clearer.
But looking upon life, as a roller coaster seems so much more fun and adventuresome and I love an adventure. It gets the blood cursing faster through your veins, your breathing increases and exhilaration bursts through every pore in your body. The ups, the downs and the strange gravitational curves that life has us travel upon cannot be sidestepped if we are meant to grow and blossom. To reach our desires and dreams we must venture outside our comfort zone and with that come challenges. Fears try to hinder our successes by magnifying the challenges ahead of us. Our courage is fueled with the knowledge that at the end of the roller coaster ride we safely arrive at our destination unscathed but energized with adrenalin because we have succeeded once again.
So the next time your life starts to resemble a roller coaster, climb into the front seat, throw your arms in to the air, scream with excitement and anticipation. Then enjoy the ride—the ride of your life.
