Riding the Rollercoaster: The Quest for Equanimity

Hmmm, what is the secretto riding the coaster to our final day?

We live on an emotionalrollercoaster these days. Rising to dizzying heights and plunging to greatdepths driven by the fast-paced, unpredictable nature of 21stcentury life and exacerbated in the last year by the pandemic and therestrictions associated with it.

I am the sort of personwho keeps trying to achieve stability and some mastery over my fate. But I amcoming to realize that there are times when this is beyond my grip.

I had such high hopesfor the Maple Leafs this year. Iallowed myself to believe that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and O’Reilly, togetherwith our collective faith in them, would translate to a deep playoff run. Therollercoaster reached the top when they went up 3 games to 1 in the series.Alas, it plummeted back down as the Leafscollapsed and bowed to arch rival Montreal.

52 years and countingfor the Stanley Cup drought. I wasaround the last time they won it, but it is too far back to remember. 17 yearssince they won a playoff series. Oh, Hockey Gods, how long must we wait? There is always next season is wearingvery thin.

At least we are out fromunder the Stay at Home order.Hallelujah, the shackles have been unlocked! Three stages yet to go through asthe province reopens at a snail’s pace. The rollercoaster is slowly chugging upthe incline again. We’ve dropped off the edge twice before with the second andthird wave. But the jab in the arm will hopefully save us this time.

The downside of thatparticular rollercoaster may ultimately rear its ugly head when we have tostart paying off the mountain of government debt that is still accumulating. Iam not sure how many digits it will ultimately reach. But I fully expect thatmy paycheque will get dinged big time for that purpose. The deficit is afamished monster that must be fed lest it devour us alive.

We have made stridesforward and upward, albeit much too slowly, towards racial equality andreconciliation. But the rollercoaster nearly went off the track altogether withthe shocking discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the site ofone of Canada’s largest residential schools. The weight of that shameful legacyburdens us all.

On a personal note, I amlabouring the last few miles up the 65 year mountain to retirement. I can seethe summit far off in the distance – a speck at the outer range of my vision.My hope is that I make it there with good health, my sanity intact and enoughmoney to live simply.

Here’s hoping that thedownside of that rollercoaster ride is slow, gentle and comforting like asailboat on a calm lake on a sunny day that goes on and on and on. But I knowthere will still be some storms to weather.

With 63 years and countingunder my belt, I know that life is a continuous rollercoaster. We all havebattle scars from the downhill dives. We have each won and lost, succeeded andfailed, zigged when we should have zagged and collected a carpetbag of regrets.Happiness depends more upon or ability to endure the rises and falls withequanimity than with fortune or chance.

But oh, if the MapleLeafs could just raise the Cup one more time before I shuffle off this mortalcoil. Is that so much to ask?

~  Now Available Online fromAmazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage– Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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