Are You Trapped In The Circus?
dan masden
The Elephant is the Largest Land Mammal in the World.
Topping out at 23,000 lbs and standing as tall as thirteen feet high, it is a powerful animal. It is also incredibly smart, with a brain four times bigger than humans and possessing three times as many neurons.
So have you ever wondered why a circus elephant is submissive to handlers who are 1/100th of their size? Have you ever questioned why it wouldn't use it's strength to tear down the entire circus tent?
The answer is rather sad.
Circus elephants are conditioned from an early age to be submissive. The babies are chained to giant stakes in the ground. While they fight mightily, they are too small to break free. Once the animal grows too weary and stops resisting, it is rewarded with food and water.
This process continues for weeks until the elephant simply gives up and resigns itself to a life of captivity.
Kind of heartbreaking, isn't it?
But when you think about, don't humans go through a similar conditioning? Aren't we imprisoned to the limiting beliefs we learn as kids?
"Children should be seen, not heard."
"Your dreams aren't realistic."
"Do as I say! Honor thy father and mother!"
"Don't cry! Do you want people to think you're a baby?"
Like the elephant, we are rewarded with praise when we are submissive and punished when we resist.
The result is that we forget about the tremendous power that is within us and simply accept our circumstances. We think our biography is our destiny.
But it's never too late to make a new decision.
Perhaps our biggest spiritual assignment in this lifetime is to shed our self-limiting beliefs, relearn who we truly are, and step into living our purpose.
The process begins once we realize that even though we may have carried these beliefs for decades, they are not the ultimate truth.
Clients tell me all the time that they have "always been ________". Fill in the blank... a workaholic, emotionally rigid, too clingy, prone to putting everyone else first, scared of failure, scared of rejection etc.
Yet, within 45 minutes, I can teach them how to become an emotional archeologist and unearth the root of the belief. I can show them the precise moment in life where they made a self-limiting decision, why they did it, and how it's negatively affected them.
We don't always have control over the things that happen to us in our life, but we can absolutely control the meaning that we assign to these events. The negative messages you got from parents, teachers, or clergy were simply projections of the flawed beliefs that were taught to them.
When you truly understand this, you are opening the door for miracles to unfold. You can give up blame and let the other person off the hook. They did the best they could from their limited level of awareness.
From there, you can let yourself off the hook. You are no longer a prisoner to someone else's vision for your life. You can reclaim your power, make a new choice, tear down the circus tent, and be free from your past.
You were born with a unique purpose and it is your responsibility to grow into the kind of person you need to be to live it.
Isn't now a great time to start?