A talk for small children

Today I went to Lucknow early in the morning and then I returned back to Delhi at around 9.00 PM

Do you know something? I was once afraid of flying. But now I am getting over my fears

Do you know how?

I was sitting in the plane and some fear was growing in my heart when it started soaring into the morning sky. To divert my mind, I started thinking about the Wright brothers -- how difficult it must have been. The Wright Brothers were two brothers who invented the first airplane. They were not trained engineers. But they were not afraid of trying out new things. They used bi-cycle parts to make their first plane. I am sure it must have been very frightening for them. I remember reading an article how cold and windy it was at Kitty-Hawk beach (for that was the name of the place where the first flight took place)

You know, it is not very natural for humans to fly. So it must have been frightening for them too

So how did the Wright brothers overcome their fears?

I was looking out of the window of the plane, and something that started calming my nerves: I could see the green fields below. It was a bright sunny and clear morning and the small plane had not gone above the clouds so I could see the earth below. It made me feel that yes after a few more minutes I would be back on the ground. Fortunately, the distance between Delhi and Lucknow is just around half an hour of air travel so I didn't not have to endure my fears for too long

It then struck me that the Wright brothers also may have removed their fears because they never lost sight of the ground. No air plane pilot actually loses sight of the ground. Even when they go above the clouds, they have a meter in front of them that tells them where the "horizon" of the Earth is.

The fear of flying is probably similar to the fear that comes while sitting in the back of a car when one does not know how to drive it. If the driver drives very fast, someone sitting behind; especially someone who cannot see what is in front of the driver, may get worried.

So what is the lesson in this experience? First lesson : It is important to dream because sometimes dreams result in something very useful for people.

The Second lesson: Never forget the ground reality. You must always check your dreams with something solid on the ground and there is a third lesson too ...

There would be people around who may sometimes tell that dreaming is a bad thing. Actually when they say that it is not because they are bad, it is because at that point in time they think you may be wasting your time if you ONLY was indulging in dreams but not checking your ground.

So is dreaming a bad thing? As we saw from the above example of flying, it is most definitely NOT; provided something useful came out of it. When people around you will tell you not to waste time dreaming you must refuse and continue to dream (because now I've told you how to dream without losing touch of the ground) At the same time you must also forgive them because they may be saying it only because they themselves have the "fear of flying".

Did you know that when the Wright brothers were trying to invent the plane there were many people around them who did not believe in that dream? And that the Wright brothers actually had to do their experiments in secrecy?

So, dear children; don't be afraid of doing exactly what you dreamt of. Keep the above points in mind and go ahead.

• Add new comment