Listen Up. You're Doing It Wrong....

This weekend my daughter and her friend scrambled up onto a Merry-Go-Round. The kind you see outside of the grocery store. They were probably a little too big for it but they didn't care. They waited patiently for the ride to start. Then it did and they were Not Happy.

"Are you kidding me!!!"
"This is it?"
"Really???"

And yet they resigned themselves to the ride and accepted it as their fate.

At no time did either of them ask to get off.

That hit me like a ton of bricks.

Listen up little girl. I never want you to do that again.

Life is hard. Life is good. But life is hard. Therefore, it is important that we never lose that fire. The initial reaction that the girls had was correct. They had gotten themselves into something that wasn't what they expected and wasn't satisfying. They didn't want to waste their time with the ride. It wasn't what they signed up for. They wanted to get off.

But they didn't.

We are taught to be satisfied with our lot in life. We are taught to be grateful and to accept what comes. There is some wisdom in that but be careful. That merry-go-round was not going to get any better. It was just going to do the same thing. Go around and around. If you are not careful so can life.

Too often when we have worked hard to reach a goal, a job, a lifestyle, a relationship, we allow ourselves to get settled. We go around and around and around. I hope as she grows she learns to recognize the merry-go-round. More importantly I hope she never loses the courage to get off.