Ricocheting through Life: Moving toward Freedom

How often do you find yourself bouncing from one thing to another?  Maybe, as a parent, you are juggling family responsibilities with work, church, friendships... and maybe taking care of yourself?  Or, as a student, balancing classes and assignments with family, work and extracurricular activities.  Or, as an employee, carroming between a variety of projects with competing deadlines?  Sometimes, doesn't it seem as if life is like a pinball machine?

Just image the similarities... the success of playing a pinball machine is:

• Scoring the most points; by
• Projecting a metal ball onto a game board of bumpers, pins and gates; and
• Increasing your score as the ball ricochets between bumpers and pins or slipping through the chutes; until
• The ball drops down the well at the bottom of the angled pinball machine. 

If you've ever played, frustration can set in when the ball bounces the wrong way, traverses the board too quickly, or slips between two paddles unchallenged down the well.  Once the ball is released, the only control remaining to the player is pressing the paddles at just the right time as the ball careens around the board, hoping to return the ball up the course another time.

Sometimes the desire to win causes a person to tilt the game board, which is not allowed, and ends the game.

Ricocheting:  bouncing from one to another
(Photo credit:  White Rose Pinball Show, York PA)

I wonder... when do we live a Pinball Life?  Maybe when we:

• Bounce from one event to another while on autopilot.
• Seek out relationships that only score an immediate need or desire.
• Cause hurt feelings or frustrations when we compete too aggressively.
• Don't play by the rules.

It can be difficult to stay in relationship when people always need to score, triumph, or win at any cost.  Are we one of those people?

Calving:  learning to let go

What would life be like if we would slow down, observe our interactions, consider the next best direction, and respond in a more thoughtful manner?  Maybe, before hitting a bumper-in-the-road and careening off in an unanticipated direction, we could apply our paddles of awareness and compassion... responding in a way that increases the chances for everyone to meet their needs.

Moving away from pinballs for just a moment:  glaciers carve valleys and fjords into remarkable new shapes, leaving deposits of rich materials for future growth.  And when a sheet of ice calves from the glacier, the birth of a new iceberg brings nutrients to the waters around it. 

Besides rewiring how we move from event to event, maybe another skill for us to consider is how to let go of a history pressured by misunderstandings and seek possibilities that will nurture.

Releasing:  seeking freedom

Life, at times, may seem pinball-ish, but we don't have to stay locked up in this game.  Uncontrolled pinballing through life can be transformed into a lived experience of noticing which bumpers, pins, and gates bring value... not only to ourselves, but to our loved ones, friends, and colleagues.

We can slow down, notice how we interact with the bumps in our lives, and apply awareness and compassion to any situation.  The choice is ours!

May we seek freedom this week:  the freedom to learn; the freedom to choose;  the freedom to seek re-direction.

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

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