THE PINBALL THEORY

I think of life as a pinball game. I'm the pinball, and yeah, I get knocked around like you wouldn't believe - my world gets rocked, my head is spun, and I get thrown into holes and all sorts of other problems. Sometimes I can’t see ‘em coming, other times I can and there’s nothing I can do but deal with it. And even less are the times where I do see the hurdle coming and manage to jump over it. Sometimes I miss, sometimes I make it.

I’ll admit sometimes I can’t stand it – having to deal with all of it. But then, I realize, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I mean, what’s life if there’s nothing for you to look back on and say, “Wow!” and amaze yourself with how far you’ve come. What kind of life have you led if there weren’t any hard times? That wouldn’t be much of a life at all!

And it’s not all that bad, life. You learn to enjoy the ride and all its surprises, especially the good ones. No matter how short the moment is, you learn to cherish it, to actually live and not exist. Tears fall, laughter breaks out, and you let life happen. But you also make life happen.

And then - then there are always those bonuses – where you score extra points without even knowing how – and all you've gone through seems like it's worth something, and you realize that, yeah, life's confusing, sometimes scary, but it's always a blast.