Back when they made the very first roller coaster, people who rode it had to take trips to the hospital to account for the sheer amount of G-force their bodies were experiencing in those rides.
But engineering has come a long way since then. Humans no longer have to rush to the ER after a roller coaster ride.
Still, the primordial sort of fear we experience on these rides remains with us.
A few months ago, my friends and I decided to go to an amusement park to celebrate the end of the semester.
So there I was, seated on the very first roller coaster of my adult life, with all my friends. The employees were checking all of our seat belts while I cycled through the same “WHAT IF I DIE” monologue in my head.
And as I was seated in the chair that was going to twirl me to the fucking moon, a thought formed in my head that made me change my perception of the situation at hand.
The gist of it is: I told myself that if I did die, this was the BEST possible place to go out. I would not only go out with a physical bang, but my potential death would have ripple effects everywhere. And every time I was being swung around like a rag doll, which inevitably made me think of death, I also thought about how my death would be such a spectacle. That’s when I realized that thinking about it from this angle made me not only less worried but happier.
Now I know this may not be novel at all, and it doesn’t sound like a very attractive idea to be thinking about.
But it did two things: it freed my mind from worrying about the very bleak chance that I would die (my passively suicidal brain had a say in this, I’m afraid). And it allowed me to really turn off that anxiety so that I could enjoy the rides.
It was like a switch being flipped.
Every second I spent on that roller coaster, I was screaming “YES!” with my entire lung capacity. Those moments packed more exhilaration and joy than what I had experienced in my whole life.
I’ve talked about this with my online friends since, but the more I think about it, the more I find myself attached to this way of thinking.
The ultimate fear is one of death, especially in situations like these. Once you free yourself of that fear, you let go and allow yourself to enjoy the inevitable. The wind whipping through your hair, the clothes sticking to your body, and yes, the prospect of death.
There are more times I’ve used this mindset, and every single time, I find myself on a plane of liberation like I have never experienced before.
I think it really comes down to being able to say, “Fuck it” and having fun with what you've got.
Thank you!
I used to ride many of the Youth Fair rides that you couldn’t pay me any amount of money to ride now!
After my divorce, I took my 4 then preteen and young daughters to the theme parks in Orlando. My two eldest loved the biggest, wildest rides, but my two youngest had to stay with me because they were too short for the big rides, so I went on the smaller rides with them. My youngest, 5 or 6 at the time was fearless and convinced me to ride a smaller roller coaster with her and her sister who’s 4 years older than her. Roller coasters are my least favorite rides so I usually just watch, not ride. Well this ride she convinced me to go on, plunged into water at the bottom. As we got to the pinnacle of the ride, I got that sensation in the pit of my stomach of impending doom and the entire way down I was screaming “Oh shit, oh shit”😆 as we plunged in the water, my adrenaline in full throttle, and then it was finally over! My youngest walked off the ride repeating the new phrase she learned that day, Oh shit! You had to have been there!