Last week I went to Adventureland with my kids.  Adventureland is a small amusement park in Des Moines.  It is the closest amusement park to Iowa City (about 90 miles) with the next closest probably being Six Flags in St.  Louis (a five hour drive).  It is a fun day and if you go during the week, you have the added bonus that it is not very crowded.  We were there on a Wednesday.  Robin had volunteered to stay home with the baby, so that was an added bonus.  He actually "volunteered because he doesn't really like the rides.  In another one of those "things about Robin that don't make sense to me," the same man that jumped out of airplanes, got picked up after a "mission" by a large hook on his back (the plane goes by and grabs the hook), doesn't like the ferris wheel or roller coasters--go figure.  For those of you that think this is related to his blindness--wrong--he never rode those rides.

One of the things this amusement park does have, however, is some pretty decent roller coasters and water rides.  My seven year old niece was watching people on the roller coasters.  You could tell she wanted to ride.  After all, these people seemed to be having a great time.  But you could also tell she was scared.  She even got in line once and then chickened out when it was almost her turn to get on.  My sister and I finally talked her into getting on a raft-type water ride.  She wanted to leave, but we didn't let her.  We made her get on.  After we started on the ride she covered her eyes and started saying she wanted to get off.  Too late!  She finally opened her eyes, screamed when we went down the hill, and then laughed when she got wet at the bottom! 

Her reaction to roller coasters reminded me of what happens to a lot of us as we find ourselves finally successful.  All this time we have watched other successful people and thought "how great to be in that position."  We work hard and things started to work. We can handle that.  But when things start to happen in a really big way, bigger than we could ever have imagined, fear can set in.  It is just hard to believe that this is all happening and happening so fast.  Most of us (if we were raised in a conservative middle class home) have been told all of our lives two contradictory things--one, that we can do anything we want, two--we will probably never be rich.  Why?  Because for most people, the idea of dreaming that big is scary.  We are afraid to ever even hope that it will ever happen to us.  We aren't born that way, but life knocks us down a few times and we become more jaded, more afraid to believe.

To add to the scary, we start to play the "what if game."  "What if something happens to ruin this--like an accident, like sickness, like--anything!"  Then you remember that if you say and believe it that is what will happen, so then you work hard not to play the "what if game," but the more you try not to think of those things, the more you think of them!  Panic! 

Take a deep breath!  You do deserve this!  You can handle it!  You can do lots of good with this!  Most people that win the lottery are broke again within a few years.  Why?  Because they never thought it would happen to them and they never planned for it.  Even though they played every week!

Plan for success. We may not know when or how, but always believe it will happen.  You can handle it and just like the roller coaster ride, once you get over the fear, the thrill and fun of the ride are all you can think about!

Thanks for reading!