Teeter totter
When I was a kid, I loved the teeter totter. I couldn’t get enough teeter totter time. Even in middle school when it wasn’t the “cool” thing to do because we were “too cool to play at recess”, I really wanted to get on the teeter totter. Sometimes I could get a friend to join me but as we advanced into junior high, it was rare I could find a friend who would forego the peer pressure and hop on the teeter totter with me. One theory I have looking back and remembering the last few times I was on the teeter totter is how we both concealed our secret desire to teeter totter for fear of doing something out of the norm. I remember talking to one of my friends about it shortly after a junior high teeter totter experience during lunch recess and she agreed that it was too bad we had to hide our enjoyment of the teeter totter—but we agreed we would be upfront with each other about it moving forward.
Calming effect
I find teeter tottering to be mesmerizing and calming. What do I find alluring in the teeter totter experience? Maybe, it’s the mechanical up and down motion. Maybe, it’s the trust two people build upon when they take turns going up and letting the other person back down smoothly. Maybe it’s the trust that builds when you know it takes someone else on the other side to do their part for an enjoyable teeter totter experience. Maybe, it’s the going up and maybe it’s the coming down. Maybe, it’s the back-and-forth motion and when done correctly, each rider goes up smoothly and comes down smoothly. There’s a gentle rhythm of back and forth. It’s this gentle up and down rhythm where you alternate having your feet firmly on the ground and then completely suspended in the air, I found most appealing.
Working together
Working together is the key to rhythmic teeter tottering. I couldn’t teeter totter with my brother because he found ways to torment me at every chance. Sometimes my brother would teeter totter a few times to trick me into thinking he would play nicely. Then, my brother would strand me at the top. While exhilarating at first, I wanted to go back down. Actually, I wanted to go up AND down, over and over. Sometimes, my brother would go up just a little bit tricking me again only to sit back down on the ground stranding me in the air again. After begging—and knowing me—yelling loudly “Let me down!”, my brother would drop me so hard my bottom hurt and jarred my spine. Some boys would even make a game of teeter tottering with us girls and then bail abruptly causing potential physical injury not to mention the embarrassment.
There’s so much more to teeter tottering than meets the eye as I explore this topic today—or it explores me. Sometimes, as our bodies changed at different rates, we had to adjust so we could continue to teeter totter despite our differences. While I was always the shortest and often smallest in the class, other girls were shooting up and our weight differential became noticeable on the teeter totter. We adjusted. Sometimes we made a game out of seeing how we could “balance” on the teeter totter and had balancing contests with classmates on teeter totters next to us.
Step back
The dictionary defines teeter as “move unsteadily” or “ride a seesaw”. Totter means “to walk or go with faltering steps, as if from extreme weakness”; “to sway or rock on the base or ground, as if about to fall”; and “to shake or tremble”. When with those squirrely boys or my brother, indeed the teeter totter would shake and tremble—and sometimes I did too! My love for the teeter totter kept me going back for more repeatedly though. I wouldn’t let one bad experience (or several) get in my way of enjoying the ultimate teeter totter time.
Unique experiences
But not everyone enjoys the teeter totter experience. Have you been with or near children who scream and cry when they are on the teeter totter? Do you remember being afraid to let that teeter totter rise and slowly lift you into the air? Do you remember that feeling when your feet left the ground? Some find this thrilling while others find it frightening.
I remember babysitting and sharing my love of the teeter totter with toddlers. Some of them absolutely felt scared to their core and shrieked aloud in terror, tears streaming down their flushed faces, and breathing impaired due to extreme sobbing. While on the other end of the teeter totter, the other child enjoying the teeter totter experience plunked to the ground in confusion wondering why the playmate was screaming, crying, and ended her fun.
Getting out of our comfort zones
Sometimes people start to get out of their comfort zones and trust the teeter totter as it goes up and down. Sometimes those crying, screaming, fearful children learn to trust they will come back down and when they do, they start to enjoy it and wonder why they were afraid of it in the first place. When those breakthroughs happen, it’s a beautiful moment. I love watching breakthroughs like that. I fondly remember the moment my daughter—who was not a natural-born thrill-seeker like my side of her Taylor genes—converted from being afraid of roller coasters to wanting to ride them over and over again! Oh, what a thrill that was for me!
Hang in the balance
I realize as this article comes to me, sometimes grownups are afraid of the teeter totter, metaphorically speaking. People balance on the teeter totter because fear grips them so greatly they can’t move up or down. They want to do it as much as the fear paralyzes them in place. This is where that idiom to “hang in the balance” takes meaning. According to the Dictionary of Clichés, to hang in the balance means “a state of doubt or suspense regarding the outcome of something. The balance referred to is the old weighing device in which an object to be weighed is put in one pan and weights of known quantity are added one by one to the other pan, until the two are balanced. The unknown weight here is fate—that is, the outcome.”
This “unknown” can cause extreme anxiety and prevent people from their breakthroughs. While afraid of one thing, fear of the other thing “the unknown” traps people in an unnecessary, vicious cycle.
Lessons from teeter tottering
As I explore this subject, I realize that teeter tottering taught me a lot in life. Teeter tottering taught me to trust people even when they betrayed me by letting me down hard or stranding me in the air. Teeter tottering taught me it was safe to suspend in the air when my feet weren’t touching the ground. Teeter tottering taught me that sometimes when I land hard, the next time I have a smooth landing. Teeter tottering has taught me how to work with others and make adjustments to ensure the teeter tottering can continue as intended.
What’s your position?
Where are you in the teeter totter of life? Are you in a mesmerizing up and down motion? Are your feet on the ground because fear grips you so hard you can’t trust the person on the other end to lift you? Does someone have you suspended in the air? Or do you hang in the balance between up and down because your fear paralyzes you in place and you find you can’t even experience the intended up and down rhythmic experience?
Supposed to be “Take the leap”
Today I intended to write about taking the leap which has been on my list for several months and then my writing completely morphed into the teeter totter and a different angle came through entirely. When I write, I let the message flow—I guess my “Take the leap” article will wait until the time is right.
Fear is normal
Fear is a normal aspect of life. If we don’t encounter fear, we don’t grow as individuals. We all feel fear to an extent. Some of us are better at not letting our imagination run away from us than others who play the “what if” game or fall back on old programs and beliefs that keep us from experiencing our breakthroughs. How does fear hold you back from experiencing the best life has to offer? On the other side of our imagined fear of all the what-if scenarios, we find joy and new adventures our fearful mind swept out of our reach.
The need to teeter AND totter
In life, we need to teeter AND totter. We can’t just sit with our heels firmly planted in the ground. Likewise, we can’t stay suspended in the air. Nor can we just hang in the balance. We must go through the up and down motions of the teeter totter to truly experience life at optimal levels.
Breathe. Trust. Explore. Repeat until you experience your breakthrough.
Love,
