(The Philippine Star) Updated July 03, 2011 12:00 AM
When I was a kid I loved the circus. The lions and
the tamer. The flying trapeze. But the part I really loved was the
clowns. The moment they enter the ring, my heart would pump with
excitement. I’ve always loved to laugh, and the clowns really made me
laugh.
The elephant act was cool too. I discovered a trivia about circus
elephants. Have you ever wondered why the elephants – the strongest and
largest animals in the circus – don’t just walk out of the arena to
their freedom? It’s because their trainers have convinced them that
they’re helpless.
It takes only about two weeks for a newborn elephant to become
strong enough to break standard circus chains. But circus trainers use
this time to their advantage. As soon as they could, the trainers chain
the baby elephant to a tree. The baby elephant naturally makes many,
many attempts to break free. But he fails each time because he’s still
too young and weak. He will eventually give up, and that will be the
end of all his attempts ever. Although he grows larger and stronger
later on, in his mind, the chain is still stronger than he is. In
effect, he imprisons himself.
The chain is a constant reminder for the elephants that they are helpless.
A lot of us live our lives the same way.
Many people have mastered the art and science of learned
helplessness. Rather than becoming the stars of the show, they have
resigned themselves to being clowns. They make decisions that
constantly and/or unwittingly lead people to laugh at them. This is
sad, because it doesn’t have to be this way.
At the core of this problem lies the person’s inability to determine the difference between facts and stories.
Stories are those people may have heard from loved ones, like:
“You’re not as good as your brother /sister….”
“You’ve brought bad luck to the family….”
“You’ll never make it…..”
“You’re just like your dad/mom. You’re a loser….”
These are stories not facts, but they still imprison. They still form chains.
Here are some more “stories”, and surprisingly (or maybe not), most come from one primary story teller – YOU!
“I shouldn’t have to do this – it’s not part of my job description.”
“Other people should be more dedicated and motivated. Nothing would get done around here if it weren’t for me.”
“There’s not enough time to get it all done.”
“Our department is always having to clean up after others’ mistakes.”
“The boss just doesn’t get it.”
“He is always undermining me.”
“My coworkers don’t appreciate me.”
“Management only cares about the bottom line.”
“I’m underpaid for what I do here.”
“It would be finished if they’d stop interrupting me with last-minute changes.”
These are stories. These are not facts. You and I need to stop
arguing with reality. And the reality is that, God does not invent
junk. Humans do it to themselves. We imprison ourselves with the
shackles of stories we hear or we ourselves make up and tell ourselves.
We have the free will to choose. We can choose to rise up above our
adversities. We can choose to ignore the attacks of the envious. We can
choose to labor and learn. We can choose to accept the challenges that
come our way. We can choose to remain humble as success comes to us.
Or we can choose to stay shackled with the stories and ignore the
facts.
Samuel Clemens once said, “The problem with most people is not that
they set their goals too high and fail to achieve it, but that they set
their goals too low and they attain it.”
God has given us a head to think, a heart to feel, hands to labor
and feet to move towards our goals, with the purpose of adding value to
the world, never for the sole aim of personal glory or aggrandizement.
Starting tomorrow, as you go to the work place, stick to the facts and drop the stories.
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