A number of years ago when my husband Kurt and I were in Thailand on an elephant safari we had the exceptional privilege of meeting a baby elephant who was only 10 days old. She was happily running lose beside her mother who was watching carefully over her curious baby. She would come up to us put her trunk in our pockets then run back to her mother. Only to repeat her adventure again within a few minutes. We were able to touch her and play with her under her mother’s watchful eye. What I found amazing was that the mother elephant only had a short small rope tied to her front ankle.
I was amazed how only a small rope tied to her front ankle with no chains or fences or cages was holding such a huge creature. It was evident that the elephant could, at any time, break away from her tie but for some reason didn’t. I saw her keeper close by and asked him why this beautiful, superb animal just stood there and was not attempted to break away from her bond.
He explained, that when elephants are very young and much smaller they use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it is adequate to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot get away. They believe the rope can still keep them, so they do not try to break free. I was astounded. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed, they could not, they made no attempts and remained right where they were.
Thinking of this story, I started to reflect on how like the elephants many of us go through life hanging onto an attitude or belief that we cannot do something, merely because we failed doing it at a former time.
How many of us are holding back because of a previous outdated belief that no longer serves us? Have you passed up trying something new because of a limiting belief? On the other hand, how many times do you feel you were being held back by someone else’s limiting beliefs? I would like to encourage you to challenge your own limiting beliefs by questioning them. If you start to question a belief, you routinely weaken it. The more you query your limiting beliefs, the more they are weakened. The more you begin to belief that you are not able to accomplish your dream or challenge the less likely you are to achieve it. It is like falling off the bike and not getting back on it immediately.
Once you have watered down your old belief, begin to replace it with a fresh, empowering one. Search for situations to sustain your ‘new and improved’ beliefs, which you want to develop and nurture. Seek out friends and colleagues who may have accomplished what you want to achieve, find out what they did, and copy their behaviour. Keep in mind there were times when in your past you were successful and use that experience to push yourself forward. Envision and create in your mind your successes. See yourself clearly in your mind’s eye achieving your goals successfully. Repeat to yourself that you are succeeding. Write down your affirmations and review them daily. In addition, take the appropriate action to move forward with your new goal. Remember to take your foot off the break while you are driving.
You have heard that your unconscious mind does not know the difference between real and make-believe. Try this and see what happens. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Michael Losier in the book The Law of Attraction writes that whatever you believe, with conviction, you can achieve. He adds that we attract into our life whatever we give our attention, energy and focus to whether it is positive or negative.
Dr. Raymond Holliwell, Working with the Law, say, “Never expect anything you do not want, and never desire a thing you do not expect. When you expect something you do not want, you attract the undesirable, and when you desire a thing that is not expected, you simply dissipate valuable mental force. On the other hand, when you constantly expect that which you persistently desire, your ability to attract becomes irresistible. The mind is a magnet and attracts whatever corresponds to its ruling state.”
So, do not be like the poor elephant and go through your days trapped in place or situation because of a limiting belief or negative attitude you developed some years ago. Jim Donovan author of Handbook to a Happier Life and This is Your Life, Not a Dress Rehearsal says, “Take charge of your life now and live it to the fullest because you deserve the best.”
“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.” Mark Twain..