When Life Tilts And Whirls

We “gen Xers” have survived many things in our time. You know what else should be on that list? The tilt-a-whirl

When I was a child it was my favorite thing. Somehow I thought roller coasters weren’t as fun as the tilt a whirl.

This steel contraption that looks like a vertical half shell is mounted to a shifting/tilting floor. You need more than one person per ride or you will be flung into oblivion before it is over. Ideally, the riding partner is someone you know and trust. You want to know that if you start to slide out or you get body slammed, that partner has your back and will grab you before the G force can suck you out of the seat for good and fling you into a tree! 😂

After all, you have serious doubts about that aluminum bar down holding you down when the ride gets underway!

For the next 3 minutes or so the ride abruptly yanks forward, the floor tilts and then as soon as your brain says “oh so that’s where we’re headed. Got it” your vessel yanks and jerks you the other way.

On and on it goes- and at merciless speeds! Goodbye cervical spine, nice knowing ya. Back and forth, left to right. Half way into it you’re like -“Wait did I leave my stomach back there?” 🤣

When you can move your head you look over at your riding companions.

2) about to puke on you if so?When you can gather enough oxygen you laugh your butts off, between tilts and whirls!

Here – let me “jog” your memory with this video of what a Tilt-a-Whirl was like in the eighty’s – when I was growing up! The modern ones look less daring!

For the record, you could not pay me enough to get on one of these things or – to an amusement park at all these days. Nope. Those days have been over for a longgggg time!

Why am I talking about amusement park rides in this post?

I have had at least one coach or mentor start a session with me asking a deep and probing question like “What do you think is a good metaphor for your life?”

While I do not recall how I answered that at the time. It was probably boring, but I know what I would say now!

Life is like a freaking tilt-a-whirl. Hands down (and gripped tightly!) that is what it is. Not a highway, not a game, not a movie or a puzzle. A freaking tilt-a-whirl!

I start moving in one direction and bam!Something totally out of my control snaps me backward and side to side, only to yank me forward once again.

One of the respected names in personal development said, the best way to predict the future is to create it. I do agree, for the most part. Learning to navigate life rather than react to it is something I wish I learned when I was still a child. Victimhood is what I learned by default and I was well into adulthood before I learned this distinction.

Still, knowing what I know and while I move with intention and planning, I am also honest enough to realize that no matter what I do, not everything is in my control.

There are accidents, shocking diagnoses, and other rude surprises -even if not personally to me, they involve someone I love. There is also the unpredictability of what can happen in relationships to other people. Life tilts and whirls in every direction and it is dizzying at times.

The few riding companions I have are as dizzy as I am at times, but for the ones that choose to stay through it all, we regularly laugh our arses off. They are a big part of the reason I am not flung into oblivion when the going gets rough-er. It helps keep everything manageable- even if it is unpredictable!

I do what I can, to be salt and light in this crazy world- even when mine is upside down and tilting and whirling. After all, life is short. A little longer than 3 minutes in the scheme of things.

I know I’m not alone here. Spend 5 minutes on any social media platform and you will find thousands of people saying they are going through difficult times. Sadly, many sound and feel hopeless and helpless. In a world of unprecedented connectivity, more people feel lonelier than ever.

This post is a call and a plea for empathy. You never know who is dealing with what or what their story that day/week/month is. Their life may be tilting and whirling out of control and your smile, your active listening, your kind word could be the reason they don’t give up on life. It may be what turns their eyes to the Loving Creator, and the reason they discover who they’re made to be and how to show up in life. It may be that crucial. You may be the one to do it for them. You never know.

If you’re the one struggling right now, you are not alone and there is no shame in asking for support. Do what you must to keep going. The world needs exactly who you are and what you have for gifts right now. Of that I am 100% certain.

Hopefully you have a supportive spouse or other family, if not, find a community, support group, reach out to the friend you trust most with your struggles and triumphs. Do you whatever you need but don’t let that G force of life send you into a tree. Hang on tight and choose your companions wisely.