When I was a kid me and my buddies went to a local amusement park.

We were on this one roller coaster, and just as we were about to be “launched,” the operator gave us some advice.

“If you lean forward, you’ll go faster!”

We all dutifully leaned forward.

Then we debated over the next several weeks if that really worked, or if he was just messing with us. In our third grade minds, we could easily see both sides of the argument.

Leaning forward is a pretty good metaphor.

Sometimes you’ll be jamming along, and everything is going perfectly. Green lights, parking spaces, everybody’s laughing at your jokes. Everybody you smile at smiles back like you’re a movie star or something.

But as soon as you realize what’s going on, you can mess things up. Kind of like leaning forward in your mind. Just enough to get you that momentum, but too much and you fall over.

In physics, there’s this thing called “unstable equilibrium.” Something is at rest, and all the opposing forces are in balance (the equilibrium part) but one small push can mess everything up,

Then there’s “stable equilibrium” where no matter how hard you push, the system will go back to the way it was.

Like a marble at the bottom of a big glass bowl with huge sides. No matter how much you push the marble up one of the sides, it will slide down to where it started.

On the other hand, if you flip the bowl over, and balance the marble on top, it can stay there. But even a small breeze will knock it off.

It seems there’s a perfect balance of “positive expectation” as it rests between our conscious and unconscious minds.

Too much in the conscious mind, and there’s not enough deep belief, or “knowing” that is required.

It’s like having a slight suspicion that everything’s going to work out when it does. Like you’re surprised, but not really.

Too much expectation and you fall on you face. Pride goes before a fall, as they say.

One thing that can throw a monkey wrench into the whole process is any kind of nervousness, anxiety or fear.

Being an overly cautious driver, for example, will almost ensure you get all the red lights.

You see a signal way up ahead, and you start slowing down because you’re afraid you’ll get caught in the intersection, so you almost hope the light turns red before you get there.

Sure, certain things SHOULD cause us fear, as they keep us physically safe. But most of the things we are afraid of, will never happen. 

Most of the things we are worried about exist only in our imagination, and are based on false memories and assumptions about ourselves.

Get rid of those, and it will be MUCH EASIER to lean forward through life.

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