Recently I took my kids to the Dollywood Family Theme Park in Tennessee for two fun filled days. As soon as we entered the park we walked quickly to one of the roller coasters. While standing in line I learned that The Lightening Rod is the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world with a speed of 73 miles per hour! 
We waited for what seemed like forever for this fun experience to begin and it was finally our turn. As soon as I was buckled up and then braced inside this seat, my heart started pounding with excitement. The ride started much more quickly than I had anticipated and we were being thrust at what must have been over 100 mph by my reaction. You see, I love roller coasters but 73 mph is really fast. It went up the first hill at record speed – while I am used to a roller coaster taking its time up that hill and then going fast on the other side. I started praying aloud immediately. You see I was anxious to ride this ride and then when it started and was so fast that I didn’t know what to do. Sometimes events in life happen like that. We are anxious for something and then it comes and takes our breath away.
Even though I knew, deep down, that the ride was safe and I would be okay – fear set in. I think there were several, “Oh my God’s” and “Lord, help me’s” said in a row. There’s always the thought of – what if this harness brakes or what if it goes too fast and this car derails. The mind does not hesitate to come up with scenarios of what could happen especially when we are out of our comfort zone.
Life is like this. We have the highs and the lows. We believe we trust God and the universe to have our back – but do we really? It’s like a roller coaster when something happens that we don’t expect – we go into high praying mode and often ask the question, “Why me, Lord?”, but when we are in the valley of life and things seem to be going our way we just have our prayers on cruise control.
I used to live life like that. I prayed when I was really concerned about something in my life or for someone else that needed prayer. I have now come to a point in my life where I am in constant communication with God throughout the day and I believe that all is well. I don’t spend time worrying about things like I used to. I have also learned to meditate where I quiet my mind and receive whatever I need to know. I’ve heard that prayer is asking God and meditation is receiving the answers. I am now able to receive the answers I need through my quiet time with God and by following my intuition.
It takes time, patience and often going through trails to see that God does indeed have your back through His infinite love for you. The experiences we go through are our Earth lessons. We learn from each one and if we try to avoid the lesson, the lesson will continue to come back around until we learn from it.
I will say that now I have a lot less drama in my life. I am more awake and aware of experiences as they happen and I’m in a much calmer state of mind….unless I’m on a roller coaster at a theme park!