So a few weeks back, I decided to go to a popular amusement park near my city. It was a sunny day, with the wind blowing sporadically. That’s when my eyes sat on the roller coaster. A beautiful amalgamation of engineering and architecture, the coaster attracted all sets of audiences, from the ever enthusiastic children to the older and more sober fathers and mothers. There was a strange mystique around it. But what was it?
If an alien from another planet was observing us, he would definitely be baffled seeing the sapiens getting on top of a steel car, going up down and around a wooden track, shouting at the top of their voice as though they were dying when they knew they were going to be safe, and then quietly getting out of the car and moving on. But then, isn’t that what we do in life? Or rather, more scarily, what we are meant to do in life. We come into this world with only one thing certain, that we are going to leave someday. We rise high, and then fall, and then come back to equilibrium, only to go up or down again. The enigma of happiness at the peak, the rush of blood on the way down, the patient climb to the top again and the sense of completion when the cart stops, isn’t that exactly what life is all about?
The roller coaster is one example that demonstrates what life is all about, or at least tries to give us a sneak peak into it. We all are travelling the coaster called life, each one in a different one of course and what is lovelier is that we choose our level of thrill. Some like the big bad steep ones, others, the more bland. But it does not stop here. It’s the teaching that the roller coaster imparts is what is fascinating. There are three types of people who sail through the ride. The first are the mechanical kind. No emotion, no adrenaline rush, just waiting for the cart to stop. They look like they have been told to sit there, and would be most happy to get out of this place and go somewhere else. The second are the ones who enjoy the ride but miss the best part because in their fear they closed their eyes. The scared ones, high in potential, but low on confidence. And then there are the third kind, they talk, shout, scream, gape, but, they come out with the greatest sense of completion. Of course you will all want to relate yourself to the third kind, but are you really up for it?
So next time you are at the park, make your decisions beforehand. Choose the right ride and enjoy it to the fullest, if you didn’t like it you can try another one, BUT, in the roller coaster of life you get only one chance, so live life in the moment.
It’s what we make of the journey 🙂