The Roller Coaster We Call, "Life"

It seems to me that very often we don't get what we want in life, but we tend to get what we need. For example, a child wants a candy bar from the store, but his mother buys food for dinner instead. And thus his needs for growth, development, learning and life are facilitated, and his want is swallowed up (pun intended) in the satisfaction his need. Because of experiences like this, and a billion like it, I think life is nothing but a long lesson of learning.

I had a friend remind me today that we can learn something from anything that happens in life. Through the ups and downs, the corkscrews and loops of life, there are lessons to be learned. I think the message of the lessons tends to be, 'hold on', and to 'remember'.

How much greater do we appreciate the thrills of life when there are some lulls? How much brighter is a sunrise after a blackout? How much more pleasant is it to come home after being out in the snow? How delicious is dinner after we forgot to eat breakfast and we had to skip lunch?

But who wakes up in the morning saying and wishing, "Gee, I wish I could have some trials so I could learn some appreciation". I personally don't know anyone like that, though I'm sure they are out there. No, most of us want 'the good life'. Whatever 'the good life' might mean to us. And so we make goals, set plans and work towards them. And for brief moments we catch a glimpse of our end goals and dreams. But as quickly as those moments come they're gone again and we're left to face the work of our day. And so our messages from the roller coaster ride reminds us to, 'hold on, and remember that glimpse, of hope and peace. To remember what it felt like, to hold on to your dreams, to hold on to your goals. And in time you will have them all'.

And when we think life is getting dull, we but need to remember the brightness of that sunrise, the warmth of our home in winter, the relief of dinner after a day of fasting, the beauty of a rose or the laugh of a child. Perhaps then we will remember that life actually isn't so bad that we do in fact have quite a lot to be grateful for. And we do in fact have a lot to live for. If for nothing else, we have those glimpses of our bright future. If we could just remember to remember them, and if we will hold on and ride the roller coaster of life to the end.

(And yes, enjoyment during the ride is encouraged).