I Connick the Terminator

Chapter 65: Freedom in Rules.

The Philosophy of the yellow light.

Many years ago, I heard this philosophy about Freedom in Rules. It totally took me back because at first it made no sense to me. I thought rules were meant to hold people down or to get them not to do certain things for no reasonable reason. The more I found out about this philosophy the more I understood the complexity of what it says.

When you are aware of the rules or the guidelines, you are free to do the other things without caution or hesitation. There is no anxiety of whether or not you are going to get in trouble.

Today, a student name Nate was sitting outside an administrative office. He was in trouble again. He said there is always that one teacher that gives him problems. I said well at least you are consistent , because there was one teacher that you did not get along with last year and one the year before that. I said;" maybe it is you and not the teacher." Alternatively, the one teacher may be the one that is challenging you to do better.

I began to explain the Freedom in Rules philosophy and used the traffic signal as my point of relate-ability. Explaining that when the light is green, you go and when the light is red, you stop. You will have the freedom to travel through a busy intersection if the light is green and not be anxious about an accident. He somewhat understood but was confused about the yellow light. That led to this additional philosophy.

The yellow light! When I asked a classroom full of seniors what they did when a yellow light appeared, I had a mixed bag of answers. One student said he floored it. Another student said she would slow down. Another said it depends. Then I asked for the definition of what the yellow light was meant to represent. One student says;" to clear the intersection", another to yield and the rest of the students were not exactly sure of what the yellow lights purpose was.

This is where the truth became clear. You see; while on your path of life there are going to be times when you know  you are supposed to go. Then there are going to be those times in life when you know you need to stop. Then there are going to be those moments when you have to make a split second decision that may hurt you if you floor it or help you if you show caution. When that choice is made and whatever happens next happens, a person will have to accept ownership of that choice during that time of a yellow light. They cannot blame others; they cannot look for the excuses, they made a decision. It is a decision that a person has to live with and face himself or herself for making that decision. Only that person knows the truth behind that decision and only that person has to own it.