R_O_L_L_E_R==C_O_A_S_T_E_R........

The adrenaline loads up and is pumped into your bloodstream as you stand waiting in line to get on the roller coaster.The clicking of metal, the pounding of your heart in your chest and ears. The oh holy hell what am I in for now feeling. The tightening of your sphincter and the sweat of your palms. Fight or flight.  The choice is yours.

Life as a roller coaster may be a trite metaphor, however, trite as it may be, it is still valid to some extent. Of course in life we didn't choose to get in line for the ride, although some could argue that the one sperm cell out of the millions that fights and struggles to make it to the egg, shows there is an innate desire to get ahead, to move forward, to  accomplish. There has to be movement forward in life.

So we board the coaster car and sit there, waiting to go up that first hill (childhood, adolescence) and then rush down the other side (teens to adulthood). Before we know it the ride is over. We have gone through the ups and downs, twists and turns, even a loop or two. (I know I have had my share of loops). But we move ahead.

Here is where the coaster metaphor derails a bit. We get in the car and then we are passive. We just ride. The motion has begun and is taking us where it will. We can make a decision as to how we will respond to the ride. We can close our eyes, scream, cry, sit stone faced. We can raise our arms and laugh and hoot and holler. We can even make a decision to jump out of the car, as some one million people eachyear decide to do with their own coaster ride (according to WHO). They don't want to go through that loop or up another hill or more likely down into another valley. So off they go. A horrible end to what can be a thrilling ride.

Like each life, each coaster is different. Some have more loops, some more turns, some more "airtime", some are short and some long. So even though we have found ourselves in the car of a roller coaster, we can still decide to stay in and enjoy the ups and downs or get out. Something that we also forget, is that this roller coaster has to be located somewhere and that somewhere is the playground of life and we can decide what the roller coaster is like. We can get on Viper, or Afterburn, Dominator or Intimidator. Or even a mild one like Dragon Wagon.

Or maybe you want to just get on the Merry-Go-Round. How boring is that? Going around and around and around in circles. To top it off the big payoff is to catch the brass ring and earn another free trip, around and around in circles. No thank you. I will take the peaks and valleys and occasional loop of a roller coaster. 

Since you are already on the coaster keep this in mind.

“There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout:
This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.
When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.”

Enjoy your coaster ride with all its loops and valleys, twists and turns. Have fun. Scream. Be scared. Be exhilerated. Be YOU!

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride vehicle at all times."

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