Stop Saying Life is a Rollercoaster. Start Saying Life is a Bobsled Race
You take control of the wheel
It is possible to find inspiration from anything, anywhere, anytime. People with creative minds, constantly on the prowl for new ideas, must always be thinking about how even the most mundane life experiences could be the building blocks for a life-changing story.
The other night, I was watching Cool Runnings about aspiring Jamaican Olympic track runners who missed their chance, but found a new route to the Olympics in the form of a sport called bobsledding.
Bobsledding is a winter sport in which 4 people get in a luge-like torpedo and try to finish an obstacle course/slide made completely out of ice.
In the movie, it was clear that these men were the authors of their own lives, the drivers of their own bobsled.
When missing out on the opportunity to compete in track and field, they took matters into their own hands and crafted their own path to the Olympic Games. In convincing each other that they could do this, they were destined to do this, one man mentioned,
Life is a rollercoaster. You must take it as it comes and enjoy the ride.
I could not disagree with this statement more.
As I watched this story unfold, as I watched them navigate this missile-like machine through a frozen tundra, it hit me that this is more of what life is like.
A roller coaster has some accurate representations. The pace, the twists and turns, the unexpectedness, the elation, the exuberance, the rise, and the fall. But a roller coaster is predetermined for you. It is leading you through a series of obstacles in which you have no control.
A bobsled course is different. It has the same diversions, bumps, ups, and downs as the rollercoaster, but the bobsled course, the outcome of the team, is dictated by the driver, and the passengers that join for the ride.
It is imperative that we take control of our lives. We mustn’t sit back and let life lead us, but rather we must lead the lives we live.
You are in control.
You take the lead.
You are the driver.
You are the starter.
You are the finisher.
And you are everything else in between.
