Why you should always reach for the sky when the roller coaster’s heading down hill

“The world you see has no effects. It merely represents your thoughts.”—A Course in Miracles

I recently wrote a story for CNN on this summer’s bumper crop of new roller coasters.

The really insane ones, the ones with the 85-degree vertical drops and the seven inversions usually have a camera poised right where the coaster plummets 185 feet.

If you look at the photos these theme parks somehow manage to process and have waiting for you to purchase when you step, wobbly-kneed, off the ride, you’ll notice the teenagers usually have big smiles on their faces with their hands in the air. The adults? They usually look terrified, even though they know, theoretically, they’re perfectly safe.

Life is a lot like those roller coasters. It sometimes looks like we’re in danger, but, as my lesson today in A Course in Miracles reminds us, “The time has come to laugh at such insane ideas. Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way. No one but yourself affects you.”

So let’s join the teenagers, put our hands in the air and shout with glee, even when the coaster car appears to be heading downhill.

Pam Grout is the author of 17 books including E-Squared: 9 Do-it-Yourself Energy Experiments that Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality and the soon-to-be-released sequel, E-Cubed, 9 More Experiments that Prove Mirth, Magic and Merriment is your Full-time Gig.