Memory of an Elephant

I've always been fascinated with elephants - these gentle giants roaming the land. For any who may not know, these are extremely intelligent and caring creatures (much like humans once were). Over thousands of years man has held captive and "trained" elephants for various uses. Isn't it a wonder how a 175 pound man (lets say 200 pounds for arguments sake) can have such power over an 11,000 pound beast? Could it be that elephants pity us and resign to a life of submission in an effort to shield mans fragile ego? Unlikely.

From an elephants infancy a trainer/keeper uses a four foot stake driven into the ground to keep the animal tethered at an exact distance. No matter how many times baby elephant tries to escape, he just doesn't accomplish escaping. Year after year - all this effort results in nothing for the elephant. Guess what? Eventually the elephant comes to accept that he cannot escape and carries that belief into adulthood. By then there's no physical constraint holding this massive animal captive - only his thoughts.

Forces you to wonder how we are limiting ourselves by what we think and have accepted as truth. Our thoughts can either be our prison or the winds that give our dreams flight. Nothing can be until we can believe it so. Expectations will be reality so why not expect the best?