The higher we climb, the further we travel.

"I'm scared" said Emma as she held onto my hand.  "Do we have to go so high-what happens if something goes wrong?". 

I turned to her and smiled.  "I know it's scary" I said, as I looked into her eyes.  "I feel it too but if we don't climb this slope, we won't have the fun of the ride will we?".
 
I tried to sound reassuring but the nervousness in my voice was not easily hidden from the one that knew me so well.  Inside, I was just as terrified as Emma. I desperately wanted to feel that stomach churning exhilaration as we plunged down the other side at full speed. But as we climbed slowly, I could hear the chains creaking underneath our car as the machinery that was dragging us to the top of the slope worked hard to keep us moving.  It seemed to take forever and at times I thought the car was going to stop and my heart pounded in my chest. What would I do if we had to get off the Roller Coaster whilst we climbed that first, exhausting slope?

I realized that the only way to get off was to keep going and get to the end of the ride. The first steep slope was the hardest stage that needed the most effort.  But as we approached the top and the car began to turn, I could suddenly look out and for the first time, see the vastness of the horizon. A whole world of possibilities suddenly came into view.  And then we started to move, faster and faster.  And the silence of concern was replaced with screams of excitement.  We faced further uphill stages during the ride but each was negotiated easily with the momentum gained from that first, agonizingly slow uphill stage.

As we entered the station at the end of the ride, I turned to Emma and she was laughing, her hair blown about by the rush of the wind, and her eyes ablaze with the rush of adrenalin from the whole experience.  "Did you enjoy that?" I asked. 

"Gosh yes" she said.  "I was so scared at the start but I'm glad we were brave enough to keep going..."

I realized that life was just the same.  The tough times we face lead us to the exhilaration of the victories.  We can never get to the point where we can enjoy the view and feel the excitement of the ride, if our lives don't include some steep climbs from time to time.  And that first climb-often when we start something new-is the toughest climb.  But we just have to keep going and very soon, the downward slope takes us to where we need to be....