Carnival Ride

We are not alone.

Sometimes we wonder if we’re worthy of them all, the one’s along for the ride. Is it fair to share our seat on this roller coaster with the boy or girl next door? The ups and downs seem so high and so low that we wonder how anyone else could love us through. How could they hold our hands and not let go, through the twists and turns, the stretch and strain. How can they roll along these tracks of ours, and not feel the bumps and the bangs? How could anyone possibly want to endure this thing we call our lives?

They don’t endure. They choose. They choose to slide in close giving us safety as we roll along. They choose to love us through because they know these things shall pass and strength comes even to the ones who feel weakest in these times. We are not alone.

They loosen their grip and give us the space we need, fingertips still touching, so that the stretch and strain can do us some good, so that we can straighten ourselves, ready for the intertwining of our lives, once again. It’s the ins and outs of this so called life, and the good ones never let go.

They roll beside us on these tracks of ours, but we must know that this ride is theirs, too. They have bumps and bangs, too busy feeling their own to pay attention to ours. So we each go along, sometimes bouncing, sometimes smooth. And at the end of the ride we face each other, smiles on our faces knowing we made it through, and we gladly say ‘let’s do that again’. We are not alone.

So we choose not to run. We’re not scared of the unknown. We’ll go up and down, and round and round. We’ll loosen our grip and retighten when we need. We’ll stretch and bend, fingertips touching, knowing the other is still there.   

Friends or lovers, either way, we let each other grow. We stay beside because we choose to love all that the other is and know that strength is what we’ll have at the end of our awesome ride.

To all the carnival participants………………