We have all heard life be compared to a roller coaster. There are high points and low points. Sometimes something in life blindsides us and puts us on a ride we would never choose—we or someone we love is diagnosed with a disease, someone dies suddenly, etc. Sometimes, though, we put ourselves on a ride. We choose to stir things up—we change jobs, move, get married, etc. We make major life decisions hoping that we are doing the right thing. Usually, we prepare for the ride as well as we can.
This is the time when we are seated on the coaster and we are click-clicking slowly up the track. We anticipate the unknown with excitement but also trepidation. Then there comes the moment when we are suspended at the top, and if we are near the front, we can see the plunge we are about to take, and our thoughts run along the lines of, “Ohhhhh CRAP!! What have we done?” There is no turning back at that point, though, so we go forward. The decision is made. “Que sera, sera. Whatever will be will be,” as Doris Day used to sing. We fly downwards at a speed we could only imagine. Our hair flies back and our faces are contorted, but we feel light and free. The fear is still there, but so is the exhilaration and the FUN.
I find as I get older, I am less likely to purposely get on that ride. There have been enough unexpected rides I have been forced to get on, so if my life settles for a while, that is fine with me. Lately, though, I have watched my adult children purposely set off into unknown territory. I am proud of their courage and worried about their futures at the same time, and part of me misses being young and the freedom it entails. As my son pointed out recently, if we do not take chances, we will never get anywhere.
So, I send them forth with the reminders that even if we get on the wrong ride sometimes, good things can happen when we get off. We learn from our mistakes. We meet people we never would have met. Our lives are richer because of the experiences we have. We have to trust ourselves, and we have to trust that God makes all things good. And so, the ride continues.