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The Elephant Rope

 
The Elephant Rope
Miguel, a call center agent for more than 5 years now, decided to celebrate the milestone in an unusual way: visit a Zoo. While he's certain that it would raise eyebrows from his colleagues, he still pushed through.

He was hoping that doing something different, if not child-like, would somehow help him navigate his own ship on the right course.


Miguel, like most people, never really got to do what he wanted. He was one of the thousands who took nursing because his parents and the TV said so. And who wouldn't? A greener pasture overseas awaits! Except that they never realize that there were already thousands of unemployed nurses, care-givers and doctors that are more than enough to fill the demand.

So when Miguel finally graduated, the competition got the better of him. He was presented with 2 options: apply as a volunteer and wait until Lady Luck smiles on him to land a minimum wage job in a hospital or start with a higher pay grade in the BPO industry.
 
Fast forward more than 10 years since enrollment, Miguel never really got to pause and think, “What do I really want to do?”

Man thinks for his future
 
As he enters the gate of the Zoo, he can clearly remember dreaming of becoming an Architect. He was discouraged by his family because according to them, only a handful makes money from this job. His second choice was to become a Teacher. But his cousin, Noy, told him: “The subjects are difficult! That's why I shifted to HRM! It'll be difficult for you, too!”

When he graduated, he wanted to earn units in Graduate school so he can teach and somehow, pursue his passion. But his family expected him to provide sooner than later, and waiting for at least another 2 more years were none of their options.
 
After a year of working as a Call Center agent, and by reading books, mostly about entrepreneurship and investments, Miguel wanted to try something different on the side. He started thinking about opening a Softdrinks dealership business, or starting a small tutorial services company. But his schedule won't allow him to attend seminars to learn more. He was quite busy! But of course, he still has time to grab a bucket of beer with his colleagues during pay day. It also didn't help that Mang Boy, a tricycle driver, told him that it's a bad idea to start a softdrinks business on their area because, well, he thinks it's bad.

As Miguel was passing the elephants, he 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 their bonds but for some reason, they don't!

The Elephant Rope
 
When he saw a trainer nearby, he asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” the trainer said, “when they were younger and smaller, we used the same size of ropes to tie them. At that age, that's enough to hold them. As they grew up, they were conditioned to believe that they can't break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
 
Miguel was in awe. These animals could break free from their bonds at any time, but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were!
 
The trainer's response drowned him. He realized that just like these elephants, he was going through life hanging onto a belief that he cannot do something, simply because he either failed at it once or that he was told he can't! He always thought that he can never do it.

It's when he realizes a striking lesson: “Failure is part of learning, so we should never give up the struggle in life. No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.”

PisoandBeyond When do you plan to visit the Zoo? Receive cool updates like this when you subscribe to PisoandBeyond!

8 comments:

  1. Very inspiring anecdote.

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  2. ang galing! ganda po ng moral lessons

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  3. Such story would really make someone think over and over and over...geez

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