The Assumption Mentality

I don’t know how many of you have ever noticed how a circus elephant is chained but for the benefit of those who haven’t, let’s look at how it’s restrained.

These elephants usually have a metal collar on one of their legs that is attached to a chain which in turn is then attached to a wooden peg which is driven into the ground, it’s that simple.

Now, let’s just pause for a minute and think, “how can a small wooden peg that is driven into the ground be capable of restraining an animal that weighs averagely 4.5 tones?” Well, the answer is quite simple-It lies within the elephant’s mentality.

You see, when that very same elephant was still a baby, that very same collar, chain and peg were used to hold it in place but being young and full of life, the young elephant tried every day to free itself by pulling away from the chain but instead of breaking free, the chain instead cut into its leg exposing the inner sensitive tissues which as anyone might imagine, is a pretty painful experience.

The baby elephant would continue to pull away from its chain but every time it tried to, the very same thing would happen over and over again until it learnt its lesson and gave in into its captivity.

As the elephant grew older, it never tried to break away from its chain since it never forgot its painful experience when it was young and this makes it develop a prisoners mentality that-“It’s impossible and painful to try and break away from the chain”. This is how a circus elephant is restrained by something so small.

The lesson here is that we all need to outgrow certain restraints present in our lives because truth be told, all the difficulties and challenges that held us back when we were young are all now just anthills which our minds projects as mountains. So before you go on ahead and think that it’s impossible and painful to break away from your captivity, just remember this is the very same mentality that holds back a 4.5 tone animal which in reality can break away whenever it wants to and you have much more potential than any elephant!