Tag Archives: roller coaster

Take Both Hands off the Wheel

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Control has been my best friend and my worst enemy.

The notion, even when manufactured, that there is some way to walk in the puppeteer’s shoes and make the marionette dance is a great relief and an overwhelming burden.

A sense of control in an uncontrollable world has been the fresh carrot in front of this horse’s face for longer than I can remember.

When certain coding is imprinted onto a brain during development, the trajectory of a person is almost preordained. If the notion of safety and security is permanently removed, the eyes never stop scanning. The head is always on a swivel. Like stealing a chipset from a motherboard, this individual is left spinning in place, wary of what’s waiting in the shadows.

For those of us who have seen the dangerous and deadly aspects of this human experiment, there is little fun, excitement, or joy wrapped inside the concept of spontaneity. Reliable patterns, routines, and habits are the weighted wheels that keep the roller coaster cart from careening off the tracks.

So, when an unanticipated universal hand surprises me by ruffling my neatly combed metaphorical hair, a severely defective fight-or-flight response system gets quickly and easily overloaded.

Find flow and go with the grain. Learn to release, and accept the unexpected as variables are presented, even when bombshells detonate. Resist the need to dictate every part of the process.

Breathe.

This is a prescription more easily written than filled. But setting an intention is always the first step, and right now I’ve got some serious stairs to climb. Hopefully, the view is what I’d hoped. See you when I get to the top.

Adolescence Interrupted

Helping Hands

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It’s been said in various ways by brilliant minds with giant hearts. There is generally a slight bending of the words, depending on the originator of the quote, but the message remains unambiguous.

A society’s worth is measured by the treatment of its weakest members.

If this is the yardstick by which our modern nation is measured, then I think it’s pretty safe to say this country is worthless.

It’s easy to jump on the gun debate bandwagon because our policies are horrific and asinine, but there’s a much bigger picture to paint.

We don’t care about people. We care about money. Greed has raped decency, and the elite’s blatant refusal to turn around to look at the bloody and bruised feet that are being trampled on the road to ascension is abhorrent.

I’m too young to be the oldest and grumpiest man on the street, but watching half the nation swing a sickle at crops that took generations to grow while the other half cowers in a collective fetal position, is sickening.

We are on a roller coaster careening toward a graphene wall, and it feels like we’re only going faster.

A society should be caring for and protecting those who are most vulnerable. But when people reach out for a helping hand, we consistently find a way to sever it at the wrist.

I’ve discussed my disgust with the chasm between rich and poor a number of times in past postings so I won’t continue to abuse a lifeless equine. But there are dangerous roads being paved with precedents that will be too dangerous to excavate, once we’ve located our missing minds.

This goes way back…before Trump and before Obama. There is a systematic unraveling of our foundational ideals that has been spinning for decades. Human compassion, environmental sympathy, economic responsibility, and global empathy have taken a distant backseat to excess, waste, disrespect, and avarice.

It is a seemingly impossible course to correct, but I have to maintain faith that we will somehow find the courage to grab that handbrake, and in a screeching sea of sparks and flashes, bring that cart to a lifesaving stop.

Adolescence Interrupted

Sweet Spot

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Over the last two years, I have painted a picture of a life in constant flux. Towering highs danced with terrifying lows, and clenched jaws were often more familiar than easy grins. Riding roller coaster waves has become something steady and expected. But every once in a while, the universe grants us that perfect succession of events, and we become surfers on a glassy tube. These moments may be fleeting, but they serve as fuel for the empty stretches on that desert road in the distance.

I’m happy to report that this past week provided windows with unobstructed views on two different days, and those instances certainly satisfied the requirements for a healthy reserve uptake. I’ve learned to embrace that alignment of energetic forces—refusing to question how or why they are presented—and inhale the fresh air of perspective for as long as the oxygen is available.

As tennis players, we are taught to strike the ball cleanly at a section of the racquet where the strings specifically intersect to provide the optimum “slingshot effect,” utilizing the full capability of the frame to generate the maximum return from the effort dedicated to the practice. This same principal can be applied to every undertaking.

Set your focus, track the target, steady your feet, take a deep breath, position the sweet spot…and pounce.

Adolescence Interrupted