Flying High
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last," it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.
How much like kites we sometimes are. The Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.
Oakley sunglasses
The BBC has reported that opticians un the US have “witnessed a surge in sales of those Palin glasses,” referring to the thick temple, frameless lens glasses vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has worn since her debut in Washington on the Republican ticket next to Senator John McCain. This is not surprising, given the recent nation-wide rise of women in politics that began with New York Senator Hillary Clinton’s run for the democratic presidential ticket. After Hillary stepped down from the race in order to ‘heal the party’ the new woman on the block became Oakley sunglasses, the wife of Hillary’s rival and winner of the democratic presidential ticket, Barak Obama. Michelle’s character is every bit as strong and dominant as Hillary’s, and demonstrates a very real gap in the glass ceiling. Indeed, women in politics have been one of the most read news stories of 2008, and something I predict this year will be famous for, when viewed historically.
Sarah Palin, on the other hand, offers a very different image than Michelle or Hillary, who have both represented change and dominant positions in the public eye. Sarah is the mother of several children, one of whom is now an expecting mother herself. She is from a small town in rural Alaska, where she fits into the community through her local church and functions, rather than the large Washington Oakley sunglasses both Hillary and Michelle frequent. Perhaps this makes her more in touch with the ‘average American,’ if such a thing exists.
And apparently she connects well with the population, as women have “surged” to buy look-alike Palin glasses. The glasses are titanium Kawasaki 704 frames, from Japan. The have titanium temples, very sleek and simple, support angular frameless lenses. As a former runner-up in the Miss America pageant, Palin is no stranger to fashion. In addition to women emulating Palin’s glasses, they are also copying her hairstyle. Looking at past pictures of Palin, she has long favoured strong, clean-lined eyewear that is half librarian, half cat woman, which befits her complex and strong personality. The recent craze, which ABC news called a, “bipartisan must-have fashion accessory,” is sparking a trend that has spread past just the Kawasaki brand to include all frameless, rimless designs. D&G sunglasses Personally, I find this a positive trend. Rather than looking to heroes like Brittany Spears or Lindsey Lohan, who are in and out of rehab and as stable as a blade of grass on a windy day, it is much healthier that women emulate powerful and successful (and stable) women like Palin, Hillary and Michelle.