As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. 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 asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer 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.”
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 were.
Moral: Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Illusioned by Art~ 2005
I sat and watched as the stationary sun rise
one vision from two eyes
a black sky turned to blue
a rainbow of colors
the sky went through
I saw a cloud that look like a fish
shooting star make a wish
there was a flower in open bloom
living beauty I plucked
for a closer view
I heard the chipmunks morning chatter
echo off the mountain sadder
a rainbow grew across the sky
the forest dew drop shower
began to subside
I saw a black cloud swiftly go by
a bunch of birds together fly
I saw my relection in a still pool
some where behind the face
is an illusion of you… myself
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
food for thought
Know your limitations, then defy them
16 comments
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December 3, 2011 at 10:37 am
Fergiemoto
If at once you don’t succeed, try, try again.
December 4, 2011 at 11:39 am
zendictive
That is a perfect quip for this post, thanks (~_~)
December 3, 2011 at 11:09 am
SusanWritesPrecise
Thank you for this. It is something I needed to hear/read.
December 4, 2011 at 11:37 am
zendictive
susan,
I think it is something we all could use a lesson in …one way or another (~_~)
December 3, 2011 at 11:29 am
life is a bowl of kibble
This is so true. The biggest hurdle for me was learning not blame my parents for how my life turned out. Once you finally take charge of your on path and realize your parents were just your parents you then begin to live.
December 4, 2011 at 11:38 am
zendictive
learning such a lesson shows your wisdom (~_~) bows
I hope you enjoyed the story!
December 3, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Amy
Sadly, the elephants are not just tied as babies. It is much worse than that. But the point in the story is well taken ~ we all can break free of our chains. 🙂 Thanks for that.
December 4, 2011 at 11:36 am
zendictive
Amy,
I know what your saying, cruelty is still used in so many ways these days but luckily there are some circus’s that don’t believe in using these methods. Hopefully eventually they will all come around. The story itself was a grand point in self limitations though. (~_~)
December 3, 2011 at 2:16 pm
granbee
” until you spread your wings
you’ll have no idea how far you can walk” Now do you see why I chose the chatty penguin Gravatar? Thank you for your poem, also, where you share with us the wisdom about illusions and what is behind each of our faces!
December 4, 2011 at 11:34 am
zendictive
Granbee,
your an inspiration to us all. Your comments are always posts in themselves.
December 3, 2011 at 2:38 pm
willowdot21
Limits are just walls you can remove them brick by virtual brick. Open your windows and fly away.
December 4, 2011 at 11:33 am
zendictive
thank you willowdot
your words are so true. I love your poetry, your a passionate poet (~_~)
December 3, 2011 at 3:38 pm
zumpoems
limitations are, at the transcendental/spiritual level, all illusions. Great story and excellent poem. Really like how you stuff the fireplace stocking with absolutely everything!
December 4, 2011 at 11:31 am
zendictive
thanks Zum~
I have been filling the stocking a bit too much lately but I get so inspired (grin)
December 4, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Linda Vernon
How inspiring. I’ll have to read it again tomorrow morning!
December 5, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Miss Demure Restraint
I was just going to read through the backlog I had missing, but you stopped my in my tracks here.
Thank you for this bit of inspiration on a day I needed to test my limitations.