I read recently that Disneyland in California is still closed. That means no jobs for all the people who work there and no roller coasters or attractions for tourists and Californians to go on. And of course, no extravagant tickets to buy to spend a whole day waiting on line.

But still, the term roller-coaster can still be used as a metaphor, right? I mean, even though we have not gone on one for at least seven months, and by the time this pandemic is officially over, we may forget the literal term, we still know the figurative term. A roller coaster of emotions represents the ups and downs of life. These days we definitely know all about that kind of roller coaster.

Many of us have experienced the rock bottom feeling of illness, disappointment, loss of work, isolation and so forth. And then the highs of experiencing a cure, finding a satisfying job, getting together with friends and other solutions. But still, life continues to bring us highs and lows, and as I wrote in my previous post about resilience, we try to bounce back. We ride the waves.

And sometimes we just decide to get off the roller coaster. The ride comes to an end, and we walk off the ride feeling somewhat dizzy and tired, as we look around the expanse of the park and get acclimated to real life. Can we do that yet? I mean, we’re still in the midst of a huge pandemic. Some say it’s a hoax and others say it’s not going away any time soon. But whatever your stance on the matter is, there are feelings of highs and lows.

For me, I’ve experienced other highs and lows in my life. One son had cancer recently, then rocvered thank G-d. Shortly after that he contracted COVID-19, and now he is thank G-d better.

I’m so relieved and I want to share that joy with my readers. But, who knows? Life is always going to bring me challenges. I don’t need to hold my breath and wait for the next shoe to drop. Instead I can take one day at a time, and choose to get off the roller coaster entirely.  It was just peer pressure that made me ride them anyway!)

And when things get difficult in life , and I find myself on the high end of the roller coaster, I don’t have to scream and rant and rave. (remember screaming so loud when we got up to the top?) Instead, I can breathe deep breaths through the high part, before things settling down.

Oh! And about Disneyland? Not to get us all too excited, but it seems one of their parks is actually opening for shopping and dining in November!

Credit photo: Matt Bowden on Unsplash