Tower of Terror

When I was in college, my parents took our family to Disney World. We* were dying to try a new ride called The Tower of Terror. The ride started out slowly, taking us through a haunted house. I was feeling a little underwhelmed, until the end, when the ride does a “surprise” drop. OF THIRTEEN STORIES!!! I think I died twice on the way down. I’ve never been so scared in my life. 

As we got off the ride, the rest of my family ran to ride again. I said “no thanks, I will NEVER DO THAT EVER AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE”. As long as I had the choice, I was never dropping 13 stories again.  

That ride made me think “I’m going to die” which made me feel terrified. So I didn’t get back on the ride, to avoid “I’m going to die” thoughts that made me feel terrified. 

Now, fast forward to the year 2020. It seems we have been on quite a ride. But, we did not buy a ticket or stand in line. Suddenly, we were just ON THE RIDE. It has had multiple 13 story drops. But this time, we couldn’t just get off the ride. 

When we can’t change “the ride”, we have to change the thought instead. 

Sometimes a thought like “I’m going to die” can be changed to “This feels so uncomfortable and I don’t like it”. 

“I’m moving to another country” can be changed to “I’m so disappointed but I’ll do what I can to create change”. 

You can’t always change the circumstance, but you can always change your thoughts. 

*Let the record show that my mom wanted no part of this ride. She's always been the smart one.