The false belief
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 can break away from their bounds 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
bounds but because they believe they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they
were.
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?
Moral : Failure is a part of learning. We should never give up the
struggle in life. You fail not because you are destined to fail, but because
there are lessons which you need to learn as you move on with your life.