The Elephant and the Rope

As evening fell, the story-teller took his seat by the fire and began.

Come my children, large and small

I’ll tell you a tale; it’s a good one for all

Once upon a time the circus came to town.  Seeing as how I loved to see the elephants, I went to the elephant show. 

I noticed that each elephant was being

held only by a small rope tied to their front leg.  There were no chains – nothing was attached to the elephant except one small rope tied to a stake.

Well, after the show I sought out the elephant trainer, for I wanted to know about this seemingly odd circumstance. 

I asked him about the small rope tied to each elephant’s leg, for each animal was now large and fully grown and could have easily broken the rope or pulled the stake out of the ground 

His answer surprised me.

“Well” he said, “when these elephants were very young we used the ropes you see there to tie them to their stake.  In those days the rope was strong enough to hold them in place.  

Oh, they would yank and pull and try to break free, but the rope was strong enough to hold those young elephants.

As they grew older, the elephants conditioned themselves to believe that they could not break away.  They believed the rope attached to their leg could still hold them so they never tried to break free or pull the stake out of the ground.”

I was amazed!

Every one of those elephants could have broken free from their bonds at any time, but because they had learned as youngsters that the ropes were strong, they quit trying to break free.  They grew accustomed to their shackles and stopped trying to free themselves.

How amazing is that?  I wonder what you and I have come to believe about ourselves and our supposed limitations.  Are we hanging onto a self-limiting belief simply because someone has told us a thing is so?

Have we attempted some task, some skill, some venture and failed, and then accepted that failure as the final end of the story?

Tomorrow might be a good time to test your limits once again.  Perhaps you are stronger, wiser, more determined than ever.  All you may need is a push toward your dream that for too long has been out of sight and out of reach. 

     ~Test yourself once again. 

          ~Test your limits. 

               ~Test your dreams. 

You just might gain a new footing and a new sense of “can-do”.

Life is a constant struggle.  Never give up in your struggle against life.

Never give up!

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