Life Is a Carnival!!

Growing up, my son always loved going to fairs, carnivals, and amusement parks. Anywhere there was a ride, he was all for going.

I, on the other hand, always hated going to those places. Given my history of seizures, I was never able to go on the rides, so I never had much fun at the carnivals or fairs other than getting cotton candy or candy apples and watching as my son laughed and had a good time. But because of my condition, I tended to worry that something might happen to him as well on one of the big rides that spun him round and round, but he always seemed to come out unscathed.

I remember one time in particular that his father and I took him to a very large, well-known amusement park that seemingly had every ride you could ever want. There were coasters, slides, swings, rides that spun you around, and rides that turned you upside down. There was a log ride that sprayed you with water, a ship that rocked you back and forth, a cage that spun you around while lifting you hundreds of feet off the ground. SHEW!! It was a daredevil's dream, lol. And my son was ecstatic to be there. I had my doubts but was willing to let him ride whatever he wanted as long as his father was there with him.

First up, of course, he had to go on the largest coaster in the park. So his father and he lined up and waited over an hour for the harrowing ride. I watched in anticipation as they rounded the big curve and descended quickly in front of me, only to disappear from sight until it was over. I was relieved when I saw them walking toward me wearing smiles with messy hair. He was giddy as he told me how much fun it was and I, for the life of me, couldn't figure out what was so thrilling about being turned upside down and taken so fast around a track. But I listened and smiled anyway.

Next, he wanted the ride that spun you quickly while you stood strapped to a wall and the floor seemed to drop out from under you. That was also beyond my scope of reasoning, but if he wanted to do it, then who was I to say no. It was a well-known park and the rides were safe, so I agreed to let him have his fun. He and his dad stood in that line for over two hours and I watched as the sweat dripped from them and the others around them who were waiting as well. I wondered what could be so fun about a short ride that you had to stand in hot sun and wait for, but I kept my thoughts to myself.

That continued all day and well into the evening hours as we stayed until almost closing time. There was one ride in particular that he got on that looked harmless enough to me but it must have been too much for his stomach after riding all day. I will never forget his face when he walked toward me after having finished what I suspect was a grueling two minutes of being turned every which way but loose. As he came to me, it was as if his face was green and I giggled because I knew what was next. He quickly scanned his surroundings and found a trash can. Running to it, he emptied his stomach of all its contents as I laughed. I knew at that moment, he'd found his match and that was probably going to be the one ride he'd never go on again.

After he was fiinshed we sat down and he drank a Gatorade and felt better. As the day came to a close and we walked toward our vehicle, I asked him what the best ride was and listened as he told me with the same excitement as he'd had when we first arrived that morning. I laughed and told him that I bet he'd never want to go back given what had happened to him with getting sick and having to wait in the hot sun for hours just to ride each thing.

I was caught off guard when he told me that had been the best day of his life. I questioned his sanity at that moment, lol. I reminded him of the heat, the getting sick and throwing up and how each ride was only a couple of minutes long even though he'd stood in line waiting for hours. I'll never forget the look on his face when he said that all of those things were what made it a fun day. He explained to me that the experience as a whole was what he'd enjoyed. Not just the actual rides themselves, but the waiting in line with his father, enjoying their talks and jokes. How they both looked down at me and laughed at the apprehension on my face as they took off on their fast journey each time. He told me that even the vomiting was a memory that we could laugh at for years to come. I marveled at that moment at the wisdom my son held at his age. I had been looking at the day all wrong all along, but he helped me to realize that I needed to look at the big picture after that, and not just the small things that happened on the way.

That's how life is. We tend to get so caught up in the small things that happen along the way that we forget in the end, the only thing that matters is looking back on it as the adventure it was. My son didn't look at each thing as I was, hating the heat and the waiting. He looked at the whole day and enjoyed it for the adventure it had been, both good and bad.

If we can remind ourselves each day to do this in life, especially when things seem to be going wrong, we would come out a lot better off. If we can remember that the one thing we are going through right now will soon be over and we'll be on to the next thing, then we can remain calm and have fun along the way.

In the end, all that matters is that we look back at our life and see it as a great adventure from beginning to end. There may have been waiting and times of heat, but there were also times of joy and laughter as well. And like my son, who enjoyed the time spent wating with his father, we can spend our time with our Heavenly Father as we wait. Concentrate on those and you'll see your life as having been a huge carnival, full of ups and downs, but always worth it!!

God wants us to enjoy life. Ecclesiastes 8:15 says there is no better thing than for a man to eat, drink and be merry, for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

Enjoy your life, it's the will of God. Don't look back on the bad, only the good. Life is short, make it count.

Remember to work hard and Dream Big!!

Much love,

Christy