The Elephant Rope
by unknown author
As a man was passing by a group of elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a single small rope tied to one of their front legs - no chains, no cages, just a thin little rope. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and curiously asked why these animals just complacently stood there and made no attempt to escape. “Well,” the trainer said, “when these elephants were very young and much smaller and weaker, we used the same identical rope to tie them and, at that time, it was strong enough to keep them in place. As they grew up, they became conditioned to believe that they could never break free from their bonds, just like in the past. Even now, they still believe the rope can hold them, so they never even consider to seriously try to break free.”
The man was somewhat saddened, shocked, and amazed. These huge elephants were mature, incredibly powerful animals that could easily escape at any time, but because they believed they couldn’t, they remained stuck right where they were. They were prisoners of their own minds and didn't realize that they could easily escape if only they more deeply questioned past beliefs, had a little more faith in themselves, and actually tried. The rope wasn't preventing them from going free. It was the invisible prison of the elephants' own minds that was keeping them in.
Just like these elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto old, limiting beliefs, simply because of our upbringing, conditioning, or possible bad experiences from the past?
Perhaps it is time for us to reconsider what we can actually do or not do.
The most dangerous prison might be the prison that we can't see.
Brian
I though elephants were smarter than this. Don’t they have good memories?