The elephant rope

[00:14.77] As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped,

[00:17.77] confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by

[00:24.29] only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was

[00:31.27] obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their

[00:34.94] bonds but for some reason, they did not.

[00:41.44] He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood

[00:44.44] there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when

[00:52.21] they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to

[00:55.69] tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up,

[01:02.70] they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe

[01:09.94] the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

[01:17.45] The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free

[01:22.45] from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were

[01:25.70] stuck right where they were.

[01:32.44] Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a

[01:35.44] belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it

[01:39.69] once before?

[01:42.94] Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life