Limitations

In the movie - The Great Debaters – prof. Tolson explain to his debater team how the black slaves were controlled and "utilized effectively" by the minority whites: by keeping the slaves physically strong but psychologically weak! That is, the blacks retained their body, but gave their mind to the whites!

A few days back, I got this fwded mail, which talked about how humans control the mighty elephants. Read it...

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not.

I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away." Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size 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."

I 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?

Isn't the message obvious? Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they are yours. Hence don't argue for it. Defy it. Make an attempt to grow further.