Life’s lessons: Never be bogged down by failure

It was obvious that the animals could, at anytime, break free from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these pachyderms just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller, we use the same-sized rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were. Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?