Didn't My Skin Used to Fit? (15 page)

What Youth deemed crystal, Age finds out was dew.
—Robert Browning

51
The Ride

I remember as a child going to carnivals and amusement parks with my family. After waiting in long lines, some for nearly an hour, I’d climb onto the ride with so much excitement I could barely contain myself.

About halfway through the ride, though, my focus would change. Instead of enjoying the remainder of the ride, I could hardly wait for it to be over so I could rush back to the end of the line and ride it again.

I rarely paid any attention to the second half. All I could think about was how much fun it was going to be the next time around. Or the third time. Or the fourth.

I’m sure I missed out on a lot of fun during the second half of those rides. Those who design amusement parks don’t put all the thrills in the first half of a ride. They usually design them to be an exciting experience from start to finish. In fact, the second half is often the best part of the ride. The fun is there to be enjoyed. If we’re not paying attention, there’s no one to blame but ourselves.

Life can be like an amusement park ride. It can be a series of gently paced ups and downs like a merry-go-round, or it can be a roller coaster adventure from start to finish with lots of exhilarating highs and breathtaking lows. Wherever the ride takes us or how much we choose to enjoy it, one thing is for certain: There is no second go-around. We can’t hop off this ride and run to the back of the line and do it again. We only get one ticket. When our ride in this world is over, that’s it—for this portion of the adventure anyway.

If you’re over forty, chances are you’re at the halfway point of the ride. Barring accidents, many, if not most of us, will live to be seventy or eighty or beyond. That means we’ve got just as many years left to live as we’ve already lived. So we shouldn’t rush through it. If we close our eyes during the second half of this ride, we might be missing out on what could very well be the very best part.

‘‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’’
—Numbers 6:24–26 NIV