By Ruthie Lewis
Just because you find yourself living an "unexpected life" by no choice of your own doesn't mean you don't have permission to make changes and find gifts in the "unexpected." Yes, depending on the circumstances it may feel unfair, and your soul may be ripe with questions and sorrow.
I love the way Melanie Dale puts it: "Picture yourself getting on a roller coaster. Part of the ride is waiting in line for a crazy long time. You're sunburned and annoyed and the person behind you smells like the bottom of a garbage can. Sometimes it feels like the line will never move, but you watch the coaster loop around up ahead and know that it'll be worth it if you just wait.
When it's finally your turn, after all that waiting, you step into your little coaster car and ease into your seat. You fasten your seatbelt, and that harness thingy comes down over your shoulders.
You've waited all this time, and now you're feeling a little nervous.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Just as you think about running away, the ride takes off and you're inching up a really steep hill. During the climb, you have nowhere to go and the terror crawls into your throat and you hear the car clack clack clacking to the top. The climb feels like forever.
You finally make it to the top and feel like you're going to barf. The car starts down and for a moment you hang over the top until you plunge down, loop, and spin. The wind punches your face and your lips blow open into a grinning scream.
Your stomach feels like it's dangling out the back of the car. After plummeting to new lows and rising to new heights and spinning till you can't spin anymore, you land back at the beginning with bugs in your teeth and a smile askew on your windblown face. It was terrible. And wonderful.
This perfectly describes what I call the God-ride.
Whether it’s something that just isn’t happening, an unexpected annoyance, or a huge life whammy, we wait, and with dread, wait some more. We may feel: petrified, even feeling like we might vomit; excited anticipation, deepening angst, and like we are whirling, racing, or plunging through the air.
It's exhilarating, and terrifying and you want to go again and again.
The
Unexpected Gift