Value of Brakes

A professor once asked his class, "Why do we have brakes in a car"?

Students came up with different answers, like:

"To stop",

"To reduce speed",

"To avoid collision" etc.,

But one student coined a completely radical thought, which became the best answer.

He said, "To enable you to drive faster".

Think carefully, it is because of brakes that we can dare to accelerate, dare to go fast and reach destinations we desire quickly.

There are times when we face criticism for our actions, decisions, or direction. It hurts us most when we receive it from those who are close to us - our parents, spouse, friends, teachers, or mentors. We tend to consider such criticism as an irritant or "brake" to our progress; however, you can turn this feedback to your advantage. Remember that it is because of these brakes (feedback) that you have managed to reach where you are today. Without brakes, you could have skid, lost direction or gone astray or met with an unfortunate accident!  Therefore, learn to appreciate the 'brakes' in your life, and use them wisely to go even faster.

A word of caution for parents here. You should not use the above metaphor to justify your tendency to control your children. Though occasional braking is useful, it is not good to always ride on the brake pedal. Neither excessive braking is good, nor excessive control of children. Use criticism very sparingly with your children, only when essential. As you work towards making your kid independent, let her feel that she is in driver's seat, and it is OK to make mistakes and learn from them. Do not try to do backseat driving in her life. Imbibe good values of self-discipline and judgement in her, and it will have the effect of giving the control of brake in her own hand, and make it unnecessary for you to intervene.

Finally, you know that once an aeroplane has taken off, it flies freely without using brakes. Similarly, once your kids have “taken-off” and it is time for them to fly, try to relinquish all control. It will no longer work if you try to use brake at this stage with your child. I know it is difficult to accept as a parent, but I believe it must be done if you want your child to fly high.