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Growing trends in recent years reveal that
today's drivers are much more dependent on exclusively using their mirrors for
information about their proximity to other cars. Everyone used to know that
drivers were supposed to check their mirrors before making a lane change but
since "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear", it was drilled in to
driver's decision making skills that this was only step one. Drivers knew that
they need to additionally rely on and trust their own eyes by turning their head
to look and verify where other cars were before they changed positions -
allowing for one or more car lengths of space. |
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"What do mirrors and
cutting off drivers have to do with parenting?" The answer is Perspective. In the case of driving,
this dependence on mirrors is resulting in more collisions - because objects
really were closer than they appeared. In the case of parenting, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and
frustrated because we also can feel "too close" to a situation to clearly see
what's happening. |
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This is why it is
crucial for parents - as a couple and/or as individuals to be able to step back,
take a break, regain some perspective. All parenting books will tell you how
important it is to take care of your own stress and feelings as a parent in
order to better assist your child. But how many of us actually do this?
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The problem is that
without perspective, things become distorted. Without perspective, we're not
looking accurately at the "whole picture". Without perspective life can indeed
be perceived as overwhelming and unmanageable. A break and chance to relax
revives perspective and enables all of us to look at things anew, reassess and
be able to see options that we couldn't see before. |
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Just like the driver needs to look around and get a
full picture, give yourself opportunities to get out, look around and enjoy
yourself. When you get back home, you'll be looking with new eyes and your fresh
perspective may be just the ticket to new solutions to old problems.
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