"There is no scarcity of opportunity to live your dreams; there's only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen."
4-Dimensional Success
Life on a Roller Coaster
Taking the Good with the Bad...
Life on a Roller Coaster
I have watched in awe for some time now how my friend, Dr. Joyce Mills shares her messages in analogies (drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect. Example; "The operation of a computer presents an interesting analogy to the working of the brain.") – and metaphors (A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness between them. Example: He was drowning in money.) Her stories are colorfully woven and often spell-binding. I am learning the power of conveying the messages from my soul in this manner and today - the thought came to mind about how much the journey of our lives seem to be like riding a roller coaster. Whether or not we enjoy that ride depends on our attitude!
It is human to want life to magically offer us smooth sailing, glory without the effort, and the ability to take the easy road. Life, however, has a distinctly different offering for us. There is no light without dark; there are no ups without downs, no mountains without valleys, and no fronts without backs. Because our Universe holds this play of balance, we have to take what we perceive as the bad with the good.
Who decides what is bad or good? Do these qualities really exist in our world, or are they just judgments we make about situations and labels we create to define our emotional responses to them? When we think about the mountains and valleys, and what we perceive as the inherent difficulties of climbing those mountains, are they any less beautiful and awe inspiring than the valleys because of the difficult climb?
In our quest to reach the top of the mountain (metaphorically) we are given the opportunity to climb over rough, dangerous terrain – often at some personal risk – before we experience the victory at the summit. We often fail to embrace that we achieved what we wanted… that we were granted the one thing we asked for, regardless the hardships of the journey.
Just like a roller coaster, can we not consider the downs in life – those times we consider difficult and tough, just as important and rewarding as the ride up? This is difficult to accept, but the underlying life message is that every time we experience something that is difficult for us personally, we need to embrace how valuable it is for our growth, and accept that it is a natural part of the ebb and flow of life… the up and down of our roller coaster ride in life. There is no need to hold a pity party, vie for a wave of sympathy or even ask for the pain to go away… it is simply a time to acknowledge that it is meant to be; it is one of two parts of life.
There is plenty of time in our life when we experience easygoing, effortless fun, but it’s not what our souls want for us for every moment – that is simply not what we came here to experience, and it’s not what will help us grow into our true identity as a powerful and infinite being. How do we know, as we experience these roller coaster moments, that what we find disconcerting, perhaps our souls find enriching? It is our perception… our judgments… about the situation that determine which side of the ride we are on. It is, indeed, our choice to decide to enjoy the ups with the downs and our choice to scream with fear or shriek with delight!
Take a few moments and think through this message. Do you embrace life as a roller coaster ride and enjoy both sides? Do you have some preference for getting through life with those proverbial positive rose-colored glasses? Or are you open to embracing the full experience of the down side of the ride as a learning tool… as a means of personal growth and accept that not only is it a part of the natural flow of life, but is how our souls want us experience and embrace both sides of the roller coaster with equal anticipation!
