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 breeze1. 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 lodge2 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 counterpart3 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 chafe4 under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.
一个春风拂面的日子，一群年轻人正在放风筝。天空中满是颜色、形状和大小各异的风筝，犹如穿梭飞舞着的漂亮鸟儿。强劲有力的风吹着风筝，牵引线控制着风筝。
风筝并不随风而去，而是迎风飞往高处。风的劲吹使它们摇晃着、扯拉着，但牵引线和笨重的尾翼让它们始终处于控制之中。它们挣扎着、抖动着，似乎在说：“放开我！放开我！我要自由！”就在与风筝线抗争之时，它们也依然优雅地飞翔着。终于，其中一只风筝成功地挣脱了线的束缚，好像在说：“终于自由了，终于可以随风自由飞翔了。”