Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. ~ Thomas Merton

Sunday, December 12, 2010

For Every Up . . .

There Must Be a Down.

This is my journey.  No way around it.  No sense complaining about it.  Just keep working to make the up a little better, a little longer.  Keep working to make the down a little less like the vertical drop on the first hill of a massive roller coaster.

I do not like roller coasters.  I tried to like them but I really don't.  I didn't ride my first roller coaster until I was in high school.  I was so terrified I couldn't scream.  I sat, eyes clenched tight, mouth sealed shut.  I tried, for a few years, to like roller coasters.  All my friends loved them.  But not me.

I don't like the tumultuous nature of a roller coaster - climbing up, plummeting down; rocketing left, then right; flying upside down.  I like fairly even ground.  Rises and falls, but in a gentle undulating manner.

Cricket is my roller coaster.  The journey we are on is one of steep climbs, unpredictable turns and, often, steep drops.  Like the flat track before the sudden, invisible drop, I can have a ride on Cricket that causes me to feel we are finally over the "really steep climb."  And then the world falls away and the car plummets down the track.

But always, on every coaster, there's a final spot where everything levels out and you step out of the car, a little shaken but none-the-worse-for-wear.

I'm searching for that place with Cricket.  One day, I just might find it.

3 comments:

Tina said...

The good thing about your journey being a roller coaster is that you're strapped in tight and there is a whole train-full of people along on the ride with you!!

*hugs*

Lisa said...

Thanks, Tina!

I can't say my latest ride on Cricket was even that bad. It's weird how compliant and yet entirely defiant she was on Saturday.

Maybe when she's 20 she'll be normal. Ha! Seriously doubt that one!

Parelli Central said...

I have to admit - I hate roller coaster rides, too. I tried it once - never again. Good for you for hanging in there! Maybe we should try one of the ghost train rides that we had at the October Fest in Munich together - there was always a light at the end of the tunnel :-)

Petra Christensen
Parelli 2Star Junior Instructor
Parelli Central