Riding the Roller Coaster of Life
When Patricia told me the topic of her article this week (click here to read), I couldn’t believe the synchronicity! I had just received an email from our reunion coordinator of my graduating class from the Leonia, NJ High School. What is relevant about that is that she included a link to www.PalisadesPark.com which was the amusement park, at least in the eastern U.S, for many years, shutting its doors in 1979. It was located on the “palisades”, the cliffs of NJ overlooking the Hudson River to New York City.
I immediately went to the link, and memories of wonderful times spent with family and friends when I was growing up, came flooding in. So what does this all have to do with “letting go”, Patricia’s topic for this week?
Perhaps you can join me in recalling those ‘rides’ that seemed like an enormous challenge when you were a kid. I had two of those in Palisades Amusement Park that scared the devil out of me, and yet I was somehow attracted to them. The first was a very tall (it seemed like it then) circular swing whose chairs almost went horizontal when it reached its top speed. This ride was located right at the edge of the cliff, so that when it was at its full arc, it felt as if I were out over the cliff!!
The second ride was the roller coaster, of course constructed of wood and painted white with its peaks and valleys and undulations; the largest in the world at the time.
I approached each ride in a state of fear; thinking it would be easier to stay on the safe terra firma. We all have been there… we want to rise to the challenge, yet the taught throat and the weak knees seem to get the best of us. Then somehow, we get the courage to get on the ride.
With white knuckles, clenched teeth, cramped muscles from holding on tight, the ride slowly starts. Then, at some point, something within me “lets go”. The motion of the swing circling around, even if it felt like it was out over the cliff, is calming to my fear.
The “click, click” of the gears as the cars of the roller coaster make their ascent to the first and highest hill accentuate my state of being frozen with fear. As we approach the apex and slip over the top, I “let go”, screaming with delight as we speed toward the next dip.
We all have had many experiences of letting go. The terra firma always feels safer, but if we remain there, we don’t experience the joy that comes with “letting go”…
Love and Blessings!
Ruth
Tags: fear, letting go, Trust, women