The Act of Being: Mindful Presence
Dr. Foster Mobley // Business, Quotables, Wisdom Leading
In the old days of the circus, trainers had a way of conditioning elephants to stay put that involved nothing more than a thin rope. A rope tied to nothing.
When the elephants were babies, their trainers would tie one of their legs to a heavy post. Being so small this worked to keep them in place. Eventually, the elephants became conditioned to knowing they could not move with the rope around their leg.
As the elephants grew, their conditioning remained. With a rope around their leg the elephants thought they were immobilized, even if they were tied to nothing. These powerful animals no longer had a mindful presence of their true strength and freedom.
As people, we often fall into similar conditioning. We react and limit ourselves out of fear, resignation, habit, and close-mindedness. However, if we create an accurate awareness about our true situation, we may find that we're not tethered to those limits. Simply being mindfully present will help us break through.