I came across a story called The Elephant Rope that I want to share this week.
“A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains. All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.
As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.
Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing and never tried to escape. The trainer replied, ‘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 only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.”
I don’t know exactly what you have going on in your life or what you do on a daily basis. As we grow up, we hear constant phrases or doubts out loud or in our heads. Maybe there are voices telling you to stay where you are without taking any risks.
Maybe you don’t believe that you can change your situation. You may have a cage holding you back, but your cage may be a small piece of string.
There is something out there that you want to do, and it is just one little pull of the string away.
What string do you need to snap this week?
I appreciate you.
-JP