The Ties that Bind

As a man was passing the elephants at the circus, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg and a stake in the ground.

There were no chains or cages.

It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds, but for some reason they did not. He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well.” the trainer said, “When they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them down. At that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds, but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they stood.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we didn’t succeed at it once before?

~Unknown~

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Thank you for sharing a moment with me:-)

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