Have you ever tried to hold a volleyball underwater?
I love to play volleyball in a pool. It’s just a heck of a lot of fun. Being in a pool on a hot day playing with some friends. being able to jump and not worry about how you land because you just hit the water anyway. It’s a blast. Whenever I’m playing I just can’t help the urge to try to hold the ball under the water. I know most of you know what I’m talking about here. What happens when you hold the ball under water? It tries to get to the top. Of course, this is a volleyball, not a conscious being, so the ball isn’t thinking “hey I’m going to drown here, let me up!”
The ball is filled with air, and is buoyant. So the natural forces are pushing the ball up to the top. You have to really hold the ball firmly or it will slide sideways or roll under your hand as it seeks the top. You can feel the resistance. The ball just doesn’t want to stay under. No matter how long you hold it down, the minute you let up the ball will bounce back to the top. The farther down you push it the higher it will fly up out of the water when you let it go. Almost like it’s saying to you “Haha I told you I would come back up!”
You can be like the ball.
You are going to have moments in life when it feels like you are being held down. Sometimes these moments are just that…moments. Other times, these moments are weeks or even months…and in the worst times these can be years. The question is not will there be times when you are down…the questions is how buoyant will you be?
You have a choice. You can lament your circumstances and wonder why you are in them and wish they weren’t happening, or you can focus on getting back to the top. The first choice leaves you powerless and feeling like a victim while the second choice is empowering and opens your mind to the positive side of going back up.
This past year my Ball was pushed under more than once
I’m not going to bore you with the details, but in the twelve month period from May to May that just ended, there were multiple major occurrences in every important corner of my life that were akin to having me pushed way way down. I would be lying to you if I didn’t admit there were some days when I wasn’t a happy camper about it. I’m a regular guy. I’m not superhuman. I am just as subject to emotional highs and lows and self-doubts as you are. But I refuse to stay down. I flat out refuse. You can pop my ball if you want and I will just blow it back up.
Here’s what I have learned
Every time in my life when I have been pushed down, eventually something good came out of it. Sometimes it was soon and sometimes it was later. But as long as I pushed my way to the surface, something good happened. Remember, a mountain is meaningless without the lower ground too, only then does it display it’s significance. I know low spots are essential to successful climbs. So I pray for strength and wisdom, and then, I give thanks for the opportunity to go forward, and then I go go go….and you can too. Be the Ball.
