Roller Coaster

You get your seat after waiting in line for an hour and get buckled in.  The final instruction on the loud speaker is, “keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.”  After heading out of the launch area you start a climb that feels like an endless climb with nothing but blue skies above you.  As the climb is going on, you heart starts beating faster and faster and you start thinking how safe this truly is.  After the climb you have a three second pause and then off you descent straight down.  Your ride finds many peaks and valleys.  Soon after, the ride is over and you are onto the next one. 

A roller coaster ride may last on average about 90 seconds, but it gives you an array of emotions.  Anxiety, adrenaline, a heightened heart rate, thrill, smiles, fright.  These are all normal emotions during any roller coaster ride.

 Avril Lavigne says, “Life is like a roller coaster, live it, be happy, enjoy life.”  Life is truly like a roller coaster.  We have experienced the highest moments of life from mini marathons, college graduations, buying houses, growing careers, having a child.  We have also been to the lowest of lows in life from a job being eliminated, car hitting a deer, 4 miscarriages, death of loved ones.

What we must never forget is that life is not like driving through Kansas.  It is not a straight-line lacking bumps and turns.  Instead, life is like driving in the mountains with swift turns throughout with high peaks and low valleys. We were not made to live life all the time in the peaks or the valleys.  The high moments in life teach us to be thankful for what got us to that point and the low moments teach us to rely on our faith, family and community. Through the array of roller coaster emotions, we as humans are able to show God’s love through it all.

Nothing was ever promised in life; therefore, it is up to us to appreciate every season of life.  We must take each day as a blessing and a new start.  What happened the day before, we must learn from and move forward.  The future is just that, the future, so focus about the moment you are in and do not worry about what tomorrow brings.  We have to take care of ourselves today mentally, socially, and physically by taking time for ourself and focusing on what brings us and God joy.

XOXO

Mark and Megan