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%STUDENT TEACH LEARN FLY LIE SELF CONTROL LOVE LIFE 900714

     One  situation  in life may serve as a  metaphor  for
other situations in life.

     While  no  situation  is a perfect metaphor  for  any
other  situations  in life,  we may yet gain  insights  by
carefully   considering   some  familiar   situations   as
imperfect metaphors for other unfamiliar situations.

     If  we  are  fortunate we  may  have  an  integrative
teacher  to  help us recognize the  important  differences
between  situations which we may consider as metaphors  of
each other.

     We  need  to  take  proper care  not  to  regard  any
situation as a perfect metaphor for another situation; for
there  are  important  differences to  which  we  need  to
attend.

     In  reality and in imagination flying may serve as  a
metaphor for other situations in life.

     As infants we lie,  roll over, sit up, crawl,  stand,
walk,   run,  climb,  etc.  Each is a step towards greater
autonomy and freedom of movement, and towards greater risk
and danger.  Flying is a metaphor for the greater  freedom
and risks inherent in the fullness of life.

     In flying there are more degrees of freedom than, for
example,  in driving a car.  Usually the car tires stay on
the  ground and the car as a whole does not freely  rotate
about any horizontal axis relative to the road.  In flying
there  is greater freedom in translational  motion,   both
horizontally   and  vertically,   and  greater   need   to
coordinate  that  freedom with greater  freedom  regarding
rotational motion about vertical and horizontal axes.

     In   flying   an  airplane  a  failure  to   properly
coordinate   translational  motion  as  regards  position,
velocity  and  acceleration;   with rotational  motion  as
regards position, velocity and acceleration,  is likely to
lead to catastrophe.  So also in the fullness of life with
regards    to    motion   through    the    opportunities,
possibilities,   and in general the alternatives which  we
must honestly face to survive with meaning.

     In  flying  and  in the fullness of life  balance  is
essential;    both   static  and  dynamic  balance   being
important.  An attempt to achieve stability through always
being static is deadening.  The process of learning how to
maintain dynamic balance is far more risky and thrilling.

     To live fully and to fly freely we must learn how  to
try  new  possibilities prudently,  even in  the  face  of
significant risk. To seek to avoid all risk is very risky,
and  leads to death of one form or another,  in one way or
another. To take imprudent risks leads to catastrophes and
wrecks.   We need to be prudent in focusing our  trust  in
risky situations.

     We  focus our trust in trust-worthy people,   ideals,
ideas,  insights,  intuitions, instincts,  metaphors,  and
similes.  We seek to do what seems good to us,  and leaves
us with a sense of personal and communal integrity.  At an
intuitive  level  we  know we must be true  to  ourselves;
open,    honest   and  sharing.   We  become  tense   when
circumstances lead us NOT to be: true to ourselves,  open,
honest,  and/or sharing. We become ill-at ease,  dis-eased
and sick under such circumstances.

     To fly an airplane successfully we must have a  basic
understanding of aerodynamics; knowledge of how the forces
of  air  on control surfaces relate to  translational  and
rotational positions,  velocities and accelerations of the
airplane.   The airplane moves in relationship to the  air
and the ground;  with the air often moving in relationship
to the ground.

     To live life fully we must have a basic understanding
of  human dynamics;  knowledge of the dynamics  of  intra-
personal  and  inter-personal  relationships  as  we  move
through  the  changing  cultures of our  lives.   We  must
honestly know our own selves; mind, body and soul, just as
the pilot must know the details of the airplane.  We  must
understand   the   dynamics  of  our  relationships   with
ourselves  and  others;  individually and collectively  in
dynamic  personal  relationships,  just as the pilot  must
know the dynamics of the interaction of the plane with the
moving air.

     Rarely do people learn to fly an airplane without the
help  of a trusted instructor.  Much more often we  expect
infants, children, and young people to learn to live their
lives fully without the benefit of a trusted instructor.

     The  hazards  of learning to live life fully  without
the  help  of  a trust-worthy instructor are at  least  as
great  as the hazards of trying learn to fly  an  airplane
well without the help of a trust-worthy instructor.   Each
community needs to consider the nature of such hazards and
what might be done to reduce the risks entailed in  facing
them  alone,   while at the same  time  allowing  adequate
personal   freedoms  to  permit  people  to  be  true   to
themselves,   and  so to develop true  personal  integrity
which is worthy of trust.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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