I saw the movie Parenthood some months ago. Steve Martin is hilarious in this movie as a parent of two children. His is a middle class family and his job appears to him as a dead-end job that doesn't consider his full worth. So, he is frustrated with this job and he quits but he doesn't know his wife (Dianne Weist) is pregnant with a third kid. He already had told his wife several times that he doesn't want any more kids, since managing two kids now itself is taking its toll on him. You can understand his frustration.
He talks about his frustrations to his wife and says life is messy. His wife tries to console him and says things will change soon, but he doesn't believe it. Then his grandma (Helen Shaw) walks in. Like any typical grandma she starts giving him wisdom even when not asked. She begins to say that life is not messy but rather as follows:
"Life is a roller coaster. I was 19 when I went for a roller coaster ride, "Up and Down, Up and Down". What a ride! I always wanted to go again. It was stunning to me that the ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited and so thrilled all together at once. Some didn't like it (in a grave voice). They were more interested in the Merry Go Round, that goes round and round, hmmm... (with a shrug) nothing (no feelings to go through). I like roller coaster, you get more out of it."
What this grandma says is very true, if you want to achieve something extra ordinary in life, you have to expect a roller coaster ride in life, but in the end it will be worth the time spent. You can read history of all the greats (Gandhi, Lincoln, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and many others), their lives would have been one tough ride for them, but they persevered and made it through. If you are doing the right thing, the good thing, then the downs doesn't matter, because according to God's eyes (or even your own) you gave the best effort. But if you just want to do mediocre things, then merry go around is the best, but it will be a waste of enormous talent hidden in you.
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