After the show, the circus’s tremendous and powerful elephant is tied to a tiny stake. The stake is at a minimum depth on the ground, but the huge elephant doesn’t leave, even though it can uproot trees. A real mystery of what’s holding him… Why doesn’t he run away? The answer is simple: the elephant does not escape because, from a young newborn, they tied him to a similar stake.
The belief that we cannot make it is established from a very young age when our potential was de facto limited. From children, we hear, “You can’t!” “Be careful!” “Don’t do this!” “You can’t do this alone!”. These messages translate, “You’re not fit to make it!” and “You can’t rely on your powers to move on!”.
But the reality is that growing up, that situation is changing. Why do we stick to the old, planned belief that we can’t? Children who have been deprived of the recognition and reward of their abilities tend to be afraid to believe in themselves, in their abilities, in fear of taking the initiative. They prefer to compromise with the minimum, the “easy,” rather than dare to claim and achieve the maximum. It can be said that “They are pinned to the playground bench for fear of running, falling and hitting.”
Sometimes, some bruises are a more meaningful and better life lesson for children than even the most well-intentioned advice. To avoid a physical wound, we can cause them some more severe and mental damage, as we underestimate its intuition and the feeling of adequacy it has. It is better to show the child how to hold on, jump, fall, test his balance, and deal with the difficulties that arise, rather than keep him “sitting on the bench.” Otherwise, there is a risk of staying there for the rest of his life, just like the big chained elephant.
We grow up intending to study and being appointed to a job that will guarantee us a living. That’s as far as we can go, that’s as far as we’re capable – so we’re told, that’s what they taught us. The invisible cassette player of our mind continually repeats the words we heard as children: “You can not!” “Watch out!” “Do not do this!” “You can not do it alone!” “You’re incompetent!” “You’re useless!” And of course, that is all we manage, in the end, to realize, since that is why we were prepared, that is why we were programmed from an early age: That we can get there and not further. What’s next? We didn’t even get into the process of wondering what our real potential is, where can our creativity and personal development go. Such a thing did not even cross our minds, since obviously, we can not achieve it. And who are the ones going further? Those who dared, who were strengthened from a young age, to believe in their innumerable and unique possibilities. They are few, very few, but they exist; they exist to show us the way, they exist to create new paths.
Let us dare to “break” the chains that keep us “bound” and limited by going beyond them, to believe in us, to create, to overturn the already known and finite standards and beliefs, to open new roads. These roads may not be paved with rose petals but will teach us much more and strengthen us to achieve all we have not dared or dream of.
