How I See Life

How I See Life

            Life is like a roller coaster, a never-ending journey of ups and downs. Some of us start at the top and find ourselves going down in the blink of an eye while some start at the bottom and work their way up; but either way, we all find ourselves going up and down throughout the ride. Imagine if roller coaster rides were just plain straight and didn’t have loops or curves; they wouldn’t be exciting anymore! It is the reason why God didn’t make life to be a smooth ride because He saw the need to give us obstacles to test our faith and make us grow spiritually stronger and add color to life. Life would be dull and we’d get bored of it in a matter of time if we just lived the same routines every single day and we won’t improve if we didn’t have challenges to face.

Although roller coaster rides are supposedly the scariest rides among theme park rides and they stimulate danger, they are actually made safe to ride on. If they weren’t, then I don’t think the government would let theme park owners live to see another day; plus, before the roller coaster operators start the ride, they make sure that the riders are harnessed in first. I see life like a roller coaster because even though there are what seem to be dangers in life, we have a God who protects us by making sure we are harnessed in. For the whole duration of the ride, whether we’re close to the ground or high up, the safety harness doesn’t come off. For me, this is like how God never leaves us may we be doing well or not. When we’re on top and then we suddenly reach the peak and there’s nowhere to go but down, we scream and we feel terrified, feeling like we might fall off and die even though we know we’ve got our safety harnesses on. A lot of times, when we’re well-off, we forget about God and when things aren’t going so well we suddenly remember and cling onto Him; but being the selfish people we are, some of us still doubt His ability to keep us safe that’s why we get scared and feel like our world might end at any moment every time an unfortunate thing happens to us.

What amazes me most about life is how it can be so predictable and at the same time serendipitous. I’ve been on Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Space Mountain” roller coaster ride a dozen times. It’s just like any other roller coaster that goes up and down but instead of being in the open, “Space Mountain” is inside a dark place and so you can’t see what’s coming next. Although I know that the only ways to go are up, down, and the occasional curve to the left and right, I still get thrilled and surprised because I don’t know when exactly that change in direction is going to happen; just as I was expecting to go down, the coaster ride takes a swift turn to the left. It’s the same thing with life. I try to anticipate what’s coming next but then I’m always being surprised by another event that happens. Sometimes we find ourselves down in the dumps that we feel there’s no hope for us anymore; but when I’m down, I’d be lying if I said I feel super happy, but I at least keep a positive outlook on life thinking “At least if I’m down now, there’s no way for me to go but up again.”

Life’s indescribable and can’t really be given a general and true definition. I can only give my perspective on life and how I see the beauty of it. Life is a gift God blessed us with and I believe I owe it to Him to live the way He’d want me to. I see life like a roller coaster; a fun, thrilling ride with ups and downs but throughout the journey we are kept safe by the harness.