The Ride Goes On

No matter how much we might want life to slow down sometimes, it doesn’t. And it never will. We can’t slow it down, we can’t speed it up.

And no matter how much we want things to stop for just us, give us some time to come to grips with what’s going on, this ride called “life” waits for no one.

A few months ago, I was talking with a friend who had shared some things with me. She was upset because someone in our circle of friends had suddenly “changed”.

She just kept repeating, “I want things to go back to the way they were, back when we were all so close. We all could talk to each other about anything”.

I just listened and waited for her to talk it out. She had been particularly close to this friend. They had always considered each other best friends, but there were big changes happening.

When she noticed I wasn’t saying anything, she asked me what I thought. And, I have to admit, when all the changes started happening, I was of the same mindset.

But, now as I was talking with her, I felt very differently.

While on this ride called “life”, you have to take the good with the bad, smile when you’re sad, love what you’ve got and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget.

Learn from your mistakes, but never regret. People change. Things go wrong. Just remember, the ride goes on.

I began to tell her that life is all about change. We can’t control changes in someone else. We can only control how we react to them.

Life is not always amazing. Sometimes it beats you up, breaks your heart and creates deep chasms of pain that last for a long time, maybe for the rest of your life.

The only constant about this ride called “life” is that it goes on. It doesn’t stop to give you time to accept changes in someone else. Always, always remember, the ride goes on.

Sending you blessings of love and gratitude from Sterrett, Alabama!

Charity M. Richey-Bentley