The adolescent years are perhaps the most difficult and confusing times of our lives. They are also the most enthusiastic and adventurous. We change mentally, emotionally and physically more than at any other time in our lives. It is then that we lay the foundation for which we will build our lives.

Think of children as an arrow and parents as the archer. The bow is the relationship between them. Without the archer and their use of the bow, an arrow has no chance of ever reaching its target.

As children near adulthood, they become extremely anxious to begin their flight and become more difficult to control. It is at this time that the bow must be drawn to its tightest and most stressful point, but it also must be held steadier and more calmly than ever before. The arrow becomes much more aware of the strong grip which restrains it from flight than it is of the care and preparation given to make the flight possible.

Parents, when you have the bowstring drawn at its tightest and it is the most difficult to hold true to the target, do not waiver. Take a calming breath and keep your hand strong, your aim sure; for once the arrow is released, the work of the bow is forever finished. It can no longer guide the arrow to its destination. It is now the arrow’s responsibility to stay on course.

Children, as you near the threshold of your own unrestrained flight, remember to keep following the guidance of the loved ones that prepared you for it in the first place. Though the impulse is to slip from the grasp that restrains you, you must continue to trust it, for it is that parting instance that is the most crucial in reaching your goals. Even if at first you do not see your target, as you travel further in your flight you will see it. It will be then that you realize that the object of the archer and the use of the bow was not the short flight that you enjoyed, but rather to insure that you reach the destination of your goals.

The arrow never fully appreciates the archer until it reaches its target. It is then that the arrow achieves the knowledge and understanding it takes to become the archer itself and take on the much bigger and more important task of using the bow to guide future arrows to their targets.