It was a wild ride and I hadn’t gotten out of bed yet. 

When I turned my head and opened my eyes, my bedroom seemed to be moving. I knew it wasn’t, so I turned over and closed my eyes to see if I could make the ride stop. 

Sometimes that’s all you can do. 

I remember when I was a kid, my brother, another kid, and I went to the EX (CNE – Canadian National Exhibition). 

This is one of Toronto’s historical end-of-summer traditions. We would even get a ticket to kids’ day at the Ex with our end-of-year report cards. 

It was near the end of the night; we were going to go on one last ride. We decided on the Toronado, a roller coaster-type ride. 

But we accidentally got in the wrong ticket line and bought a ticket for the Zipper instead. The Zipper was more like a merry-go-round type ride … only with a sinister twist.

The first clue was the seats you rode in. You were in a cab that seated four people. But it was a cage, because you were completely enclosed. There was a big wheel in the middle of the cage, coming up from the floor that could turn. 

The cage we were in started to go around in a circle, but then it also started to flip around. It was like the earth that goes around the sun but also spins as it goes. 

Let me tell you that on a much smaller scale than the earth sun scenario, this was a wicked ride.

We were thrown back against the cage and the only way to avoid the centrifugal force was to hang on to that big wheel in the center. 

We all took turns. You could spin the wheel to make the cage go faster, but we just tried to slow it down. 

Half way through the ride we all gave up. Plastered to the outer walls of the cage, we closed our eyes and hung on till the end. 

Our heads were spinning; we were dizzy to the point of nausea. Thankfully no one threw up – that would have been ugly! 

I never wanted to go on that ride again and I never did.

That is what you call self-imposed vertigo. 

I’m not sure if what I had this morning was vertigo, but it sure reminded me of that ride … only it wasn’t self-imposed.

The first time I got up, I stumbled to the bathroom like a drunken sailor. I went back to bed after that and closed my eyes to wait out the ride. 

My wife, Lily, told me there was some infection going around that causes vertigo symptoms and there were a number of people that had it. 

I sure don’t want to be one of them! … I’m thinking that maybe I was a little tired after a very long, busy day yesterday. 

I think a good game of pickup hockey will fix me. Maybe the vertigo will help me deke past other players today.

Here’s the thing: Life can get so busy, it leaves you spinning. When you get to that stage you need to slow things down. You need something that will intervene in all the crazy busyness. Two things can help: Break away; get somewhere different, somewhere quiet and calming. The right scenery helps – something peaceful. The second thing is connecting to the God of all peace. If you will spend time with Him, and listen to Him, God will help you see straight so the way ahead is clear. 

That’s Life,

Paul

Question: What has you spinning around in circles right now? Leave your comments below.