Roller Coaster Of Life

"Click. Click. Click. Click. Click." You can hear the cars of the roller coaster gradually ascending to the top of that first giant hill. Anticipation builds as you get higher and higher, noticing your car way out at the edge of the parking lot and the ant-people milling about below. That rush of adrenaline starts to kick in.

"Clickclickclickclickclick!" You're sitting in that car on the roller coaster as it picks up speed and starts to barrel down the top of that mountain. You either grip onto that handle bar for dear life or you get the urge to get your hands in the air for the plummet. In a flash, you're at the bottom and zooming through your first loop, head banging back and forth a bit as you fight for control from the g forces.

It's the roller coaster of life. Up, down and all around.

Different people ride different kinds of roller coasters. For some people, this ride of life depends on what other people say. They're on top of the world when someone compliments them and encourages them. They're feeling that thrill when they find someone that really understands them. They can face any corkscrew as long as they have someone along for the ride to give support.

And yet these same people also find themselves at their lowest points because of what other people say. A harsh word, some sarcasm or a little gossip and the person is right at the bottom of the ride again. With each new day, with each new conversation, with each new person, the person just goes long for the ride, up and down, up and down.

For other kinds of people, life is a series of circumstances. They think of that upcoming vacation, that next job, that new relationship and they're in the air. Take away one of those things, or give them problems at school, or have a tough argument with a friend and they feel like they've crash landed again.

Everyone has a different roller coaster and each one is motivated and energized by different sources. Some people are motivated by responsibility and duty, like me. My friends can attest to how antsy I get when I'm late or when I fail to do something that I promised. I get a thrill out of killing software bugs and I am always disappointed every time I heard about a new problem that someone found in my code.

These motivations are not wrong, not by any means. Everyone gets pumped up by different things, everyone has the drive to succeed in different ways, everyone finds their own unique ways of moving forward. We're all wired in our own way and we all move through life on our track.

The problems arise when we allow these motivations to control us. Rather than using these things to fuel us, we let them take the driver's wheel each day.

Life will always have its up and downs, its highs and its lows. We're on the roller coaster, we're buckled in and there's no turning back. Of course, we will feel the emotion of it all. Joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, peace and panic, the entire spectrum of it. It's all part of this experience of life.

The question is, will we just let the coaster jerk us around every corner or will we enjoy the ride?