Up Down Round and Round
- roamcare
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
Outside of Pittsburgh is an amusement park with a handful of rollercoasters including three built in the 1920s and a pair of modern coasters that loop and twist riders upside down. One of the older was tagged by the New York Times in 1974 as the #1 rollercoaster in the world. That same park includes tamer options including train rides and a classic Merry-go-Round. Many comparisons are made between life and rollercoasters with their ups and downs and breakneck speeds. We feel a fairer comparison for life is the entire amusement park.
It is true that much of life seems to want to turn us upside down, but there are also moments spent drifting along as one might in a paddle boat or singing along with life as if you were in It’s a Small World. Then again, there is the craziness might experience at the bumper cars, the frantic pace of the penny arcade, or caught in the dark like Disney World’s Pirates of the Caribbean,
The point is there is no single point to life. It’s a mosaic of emotions running the gamut from excitement to joy to suspense to contentment. In a single week, often in a single day, you might find yourself at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum or rushing to get something done before you can sit back and relax.
You don’t often hear people leaving an amusement park complaining they were too relaxed or had too much fun. You will sometimes hear people wanting a thrill ride to last longer or wishing that last drop on the coaster was even bigger. Why then do we so often shy away from the extra hours at work or the hard projects at home? Like those pendulum attractions that swing riders to and fro, life needs balance to work right.
When life gets too heavy at school or work, home life ends up in the air, seemingly unsupported, and never getting back to even. “Heavy” workloads don’t always mean overtime hours or extra days. It could also be the strain of uncertain planning, poor communication, or lost recognition.
Imagine working on a project for weeks only to find out upon turning in the final assignment that you were notified the project had been transferred to a different team. How would you feel if after completing a written report, discovering your manager only wanted summary information? Think of the time lost and the energy expended on a project when you did the research, confirmed citations, and wrote and formatted the final document only to find out it had presented to the powers that be by your boss as his or her work, your name stripped from all references.
It is work like this that had turned many people away from their home lives not because of time spent away from their families but because of the loss of energy that had been drained from them by poor leaders, incompetent managers, or out for themselves executives.
Maintaining work life balance, whether managing time or stress is almost like planning for a trip to the amusement park. Experts say to:
Set boundaries – what rides are safe, what are out of the question
Take breaks – everyone needs time to recharge even on a day of fun and games
Prioritize self-care – do what you want to do and what you know you can do safely
Delegate – split the kids up among the adults at the park, and get the whole team involved on the projects at work
Practice time management – budget enough time to accomplish your goals, enjoy what you’re doing, and remember why you’re doing it
Focus on health – don’t run yourself ragged, stop when you have to, and above all relax
A step the experts leave out is to expect the unexpected, be ready for surprises.
Most wooden rollercoasters have a climb followed by its most dramatic drop at the beginning of the ride. The rest of the ride uses that momentum to move the riders through its twists and turns until the calm of the loading platform comes into view after a final dramatic turn. That coaster in the park outside Pittsburgh that The NY Times was so enamored of saves its biggest climb and steepest drop for the midway point and then right before reaching the loading platform it drops the riders into another unexpected final dip.
Moral of the story? Plan for a fun ride through life but don’t get too comfortable. And never exit the ride until the vehicle comes to a complete stop!
Wow. This is a beautiful reminder of what life really is--the scope of an amusement park, with its fast, slow, up, down, twists, and turns. Expect the unexpected--that's a tall order, my friends. Being human lends itself to wanting control over something. Boundaries are hard; self-care is spoken about but I believe few really know how to do it because they don't know themselves well enough to listen to what their hearts and heads tell them are their needs. I love your last line--it makes me think of living intentionally as long as you have the energy, drive, and heart!