Carousels

We met a homeschool playgroup at a park this week.  The park had an angular momentum carousel.   

Yea, I didn’t know what that was either.  It is like any other kid powered carousel at a park except no one has to push it around.  A child steps up, steps in, and is on his way to Dizzyville.

My husband watched as the children would jump on and one would race around it to get it started or the ones on it would use their feet to push it.  After a while they moved on to another piece of equipment and he chose to inspect it.  Then he called me over.

“This is an angular momentum carousel!” 

I stared at him wondering what the excitement was about.

“Watch.  You don’t have to push it.”

He stepped up on the side.  It remained still.  He quickly stepped into the center and it began to spin.  He stepped back out to the edge and it stopped.  The carousel wanted to spin, it just needed the weight in the center.

I tried it.  Up.  In.  Spin. 

At first I thought I had made a serious mistake.  I was instantly dizzy and soon forced to close my eyes.  As I was praying not to fall, I realized I could shift my weight slightly and affect the speed of the spin.  Leaning out affected the speed.  The chaotic zipping around was controllable.

Life is like that angular momentum carousel.  It wants to spin.  Life wants to be lived fully.  From the outside it looks so chaotic, dizzying, even scary. 

Maybe, you think, maybe standing on the edge is the better choice.

Life gets messy.  Relationships get complicated.  Loved ones leave.  Everything can just seem so hard to handle.

But you can’t stand on the edge.  There’s no movement there.  No life.  No love.  No dizzying moments that take your breath away in awe.  The butterfly soft feeling of the first time you feel an unborn child move.  The first kiss of that special someone.  The sun’s flagrant display of color as it nears the horizon.

Step in.  Your choices are your shifting weight.  Small shifts, big shifts, in between shifts all affect the spin.

Chaos will sometimes seem to overwhelm but remember you can control your choices.  Close your eyes.  Pray.  Shift your weight with deliberate, patient moves.  Look for the moments that make it all worthwhile.

Enjoy the carousel.