Lately, I have constantly been reminded of the power we have inside each of us. Today, I stumbled across a website that is dedicated to ending the abuse of elephants in captivity. I have often wondered how these enormous giants were even KEPT in captivity in the first place. The fences that keep them caged would crumble under their strength. The ankle chain that keeps them shackled would snap with even a meagerly attempted yank.
I looked into it a bit and found that captive elephants are trained into captivity as babies. At that time, the fences are strong enough to keep them in. At that time, the ankle shackles are strong enough to keep them bound. Time after time, these fearless babies test their boundaries and fail to penetrate them. Broken, they resign themselves to a life of captivity – and often – abuse.
I have never found a more pitiful sight than that of a broken spirit… a person (or animal) with no hope, no fight, no vision, no true grasp of their value, their potential, their promise. These elephants are – quite literally – ONE “try” short of freedom, yet they remain bound.
Many of us are the same. We allow past failures to rob us of future success. We are captive to stories of what HASNT worked in the past… rather than excited about trying again.
So… I am not sure what I can do for these elephants. But, we can honor them by learning from them. Here’s a great start: What haven’t you tried in a while that just might work THIS TIME? Do you really KNOW what you are capable of accomplishing? Where are you BOUND business-wise? What have you given up on??
