A man was walking through an elephant camp and found that the elephants weren't being kept in cages or held by chains (铁链) . All that was holding them back from running away from the camp was a small piece of rope (绳索)- it was just tied to one of their legs.
As the man looked at the elephants, he couldn't understand it. Why didn't the elephants just use their strength to break the rope and run away from the camp? They could easily make it, but instead, they didn't try at all. Then, he asked a trainer nearby why it was so.
"When they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size of rope to tie them, and at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grew up, they still believed that they couldn't break away.
They believed the rope could still hold them, so they never tried to break free," the trainer answered.
The man was in silence. These animals could have broken free whenever they wanted, but it was just because over time, they had the belief that it just wasn't possible.
How many of us go through life like the elephants- holding onto the belief that we cannot do something simply because we failed at it once or sometimes before?
Failure is part of learning. If we failed once or a few times, it doesn't mean we can never succeed. We should never give up trying when we experience failures in life.
