Article 229

From the ALUMNI Editing Room

Published by Babel University Professional School of Translation ALUMNI Association

 

The Elephant in the Circus

By Tomoki Hotta

Vice Chancellor, Babel University Professional School of Translation

 

There is a story of an elephant in a circus who was confined with a ball and chain from a very young age. At first the young elephant tried to run away by pulling with all its might against its bonds, but given its small size, the chain didn’t budge.

 

The clever elephant realized it was impossible to move the chain and gave up trying to pull its bonds.

Then the following happened.

Even after the elephant grew up, it didn’t try to move or pull on its shackles, even though it had more than enough strength now to pull free.

 

The elephant had tried as a young elephant over and over only to be frustrated.

Even though the elephant no longer needed to be chained up, it now believed that it couldn’t move the ball and chain. Consequently, for the rest of its life the elephant believed it could never escape.

 

Are we also trapped by that same sort of ball and chain, placed on us by our parents, teachers, bosses, or “common sense”?

 

Dream killers are in those places surprisingly closest to us.

While in reality we can free ourselves from those bondages, do we instead give up because of what we believe we can or can’t do? (something to reflect on).

 

Today, the world is prevalent with countless constraints, making it easy to find reasons to say that what we strive to do is impossible, and making giving up appear the wise thing to do.

However, I know in my heart there is a tremendous difference in the way we live our lives based on how we free ourselves from those limited beliefs.

 

If you want to live life to the fullest, you need to shake off those imaginary bonds.