What do theme park rides have in common with every day life?
1. The perfect moments are over before you know it.
2. You need moderation.
3. The longer the wait the better the ride.
Let’s put it this way, life is perfect in so many ways, a vast ocean of beautiful mistakes and moments that make up the human experience. Most of the perfection in our lives are in small, fleeting little moments that can’t be forced, you just happen upon them. The moment you look up and see the sun setting with pastel colors against the mountains, or when you accidentally lock your keys in the car but the window is barely cracked and you fit a stick through it and unlock it, when a friend makes you laugh so hard you snort or can’t breathe or something comes out of one of your noses. Maybe is spicy red marinara sauce and then you really can’t stop laughing because your friend is also in pain and you know it won’t kill them. There’s a lot of random little perfections that happen in our lives, and just like a theme park ride, those moments are over before you know it.
This is really a practice in presence. Rides can feel scary and they can feel exciting, it can interpreted either way. Blissfully engaging in the moment or hanging on for dear life, are both experiences we get to have in both life and them park rides. The build up to a ride can be many things too. Frustrating because you have to wait (even though you know what you’re signing up for when you go to the park), exciting because you are already living in the future of how much fun you think the ride is going to be, anxious because you don’t know if your lunch is going to stay down or not, or maybe even boring because you’re standing in a queue. Life is not so much different, while we’re at work, or starting a project, or at a picnic with our friends we can be in so many other places in our head and projecting what we think the feelings are going to be out into the space around us. Frustrated that we don’t have the things we think we want or haven’t “gotten there” (wherever there is) yet. (The amount of times I’m wanting to be “on time” or “going somewhere” because I’m uncomfortable just being in the moment sometimes sitting with my feelings. So in a rush and frustrated. Makes me laugh at myself). Excited because of something new, a relationship, a project, an opportunity to do something with people who’s company feels like home. Anxious that the money won’t come at the right time only to realize your landlord will give you a day or two and work with you or the date won’t show up, only to text you they hit traffic and are a few minutes behind, hell I’m behind, thank god they weren’t waiting on me. Bored because I am trying to be somewhere I’m not until I look the barista in their face and ask how they are and get an extra cookie just for being in that moment with them and wasn’t a dick like the 7 people before who couldn’t pull their heads out of their phones or take their headphones out (which I’m mad guilty of). The point is, the present moment happening around us all the time has a lot more perfect little things to tap into if we so choose to and we get to actually direct the attention and create the feelings we want to by bringing ourselves to the present rather than letting the story we’re telling ourselves by default command our attention.
As with anything, moderation and balance are the key. If you were to go to a theme park and ride every ride, every day you’d be sick of it. The fun, the joy, the enjoyment would have no contrast, and on top of that you’d probably be hurting physically. My brother and I timed it perfectly. We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain on a Wednesday right when it opened during the time kids would be in school. We didn’t wait more than 10 minutes for a single ride. We went on every single ride that we wanted to that day (other than superman cause it was closed). At the end of the day, we got to X2, waited 10 minutes, and there was no one behind us. We rode that ride 4 times in a row with no breaks between and when I tell you my head was spinning and in pain, it actually took 2 days to reorient myself and feel normal. What a joy it was to be able to share that time but never again. I haven’t been back since. That was enough for me on theme rides for the last 4 years. There was no in between, there was no break period, there was no rest or contrast. It was just high intensity rides for hours on end. It can be jarring. Funny enough it’s quite similar to how my last 7 months have been going in life. Until this August I don’t think I spent more than 10 days on a single bed/couch at once. I was traveling, moving around, visiting friends, working, going to different cities, states, events, holidays, dates, ceremonies, retreats and projects. I didn’t have weekends and I didn’t have off days. Every day was some kind of intense work on my mind, body or of actual work/labor something. Non-stop. All of the things were amazing, even the parts that hurt from heart breaks to body work to fighting mental loops and making sure I wasn’t going crazy even though I felt like it. None of this to complain at all, I’m grateful for that past 7 months and all the joy and turmoil in and through it. I am grateful to be who I am now because of it. I wouldn’t change it one bit, but I will say I’m grateful to be feeling a bit more grounded and settled (even though I know more travel is coming soon). The contrast is beautiful. I’m coming to an equilibrium within myself and it’s popping into the real world because I knew I couldn’t keep going at the pace I was. And maybe another time in life I will be able to keep up. I definitely kept up longer and healthier this time than the last time I went that hard and I’m proud of myself. Anywho… The good needs moderation as much as the bad. Eat the stuff you enjoy that makes you happy, go play, go dance, drink a little, let loose, have fun, love hard. And bring yourself back to grounding, peace, and do the menial things you need to do for yourself. Drink water, go on a walk, turn your phone off for a few hours, recharge, take a nap, take vitamins, get your bloodwork done/tested, sit in some cold water, workout. Do the unsexy things that keep you able to do the things you love. You’ll thank yourself for waiting in the line later. The wait is worth it. I promise.
That brings me to the last point. Waiting. Usually at a theme park, the better the ride, the longer the wait. You ever tried to ride space mountain at any given time or California Screamin’ (I know it’s like incredibles themes or something now) in California? The lines are insane. However, you’re waiting for the most sought after part of the park. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes there’s fast passes, sometimes everyone’s congregated at a different spot, and you get by real quick before the crowd moves. And, like in life, the wait is worth it otherwise you would hop out of line and go do something else. In life, often times, the better the lesson, the farther forward it propels you, the most beneficial lessons and experiences are worth the wait. The magic moment when all of the stress, toil, frustration, uncertainty, and stuckness just melt away and it seems like things make sense or the missing piece was found or everything lines up. That magic moment was worth it all. What we often don’t realize is that those feelings are when we’re changing and evolving and growing and what we’ve learned is sinking into our bodies to be made manifest in our reality. Someone once told me that the farther back an arrow is drawn, the farther and faster it shoots forward. That tension, the discomfort, the feeling like somethings about to happen and you know its going to be okay but theres a blockage. The subconscious torment we put ourselves through to sabotage our efforts in accomplishing what we want. All of these things are lessons that we have to go through over and over until we get past whats holding us back. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to get past it. Sometimes it unlocks itself in levels. We have the glimpses of “A-ha” moments where another piece seems to land, almost as a promise that more is on its way. Just enough to keep us going and moving forward. It’s a beautiful dance that life leads us on. Rarely are we exactly the same as we were a year ago. Even if there are many things the became constant or consistent in our lives.
So there you have it. Three ways that life is like theme parks. I hope the next time you catch yourself in a loop, you remember its the tension of a lesson and you’re awesome for facing it, I hope you enjoy the contrast and balance of things, and I hope you remain present as often as you can so you can witness the perfect life you’re living in, all bullshit aside. You got this.