The Story of the Elephant - An Editorial

Just something I found while perusing the internets. Felt it was a worthwhile repost. I apologize that I don’t know the original author.

I know it’s maybe not the most well written little snippet, and it is a little frustrating that whoever created this put in a picture of an elephant in CHAINS, not rope, but I think the idea is an interesting one. Possibly one that I should really take note of…

You can click on the image to enlarge, or you can just read the text here:

“As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held only by a rope tied to their legs. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from the ropes they were tied to, but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” he said, “when they are very young and much smaller, we use the same size rope to tie them, and 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.” My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds, but because they believed that they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature had limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging simply because of our so called mindset?”