An adult elephant can easily uproot huge trees with its trunk; it can knock down a house without much trouble. When an elephant living in captivity is still a baby, it is tied to a tree with a strong rope or a chain every night. Because it is the nature of elephants to roam free, the baby elephant instinctively tries with all its might to break the rope. But it isn't yet strong enough to do so.
Realizing its efforts are of no use, it finally gives up and stops struggling. After the baby elephant tries and fails many times, it will never try again for the rest of its life.
Later, when the elephant is fully grown, it can be tied to a small tree with a thin rope. It could then easily free itself by uprooting the tree or breaking the rope. But because its mind has been conditioned by its prior experiences, it doesn't make the slightest attempt to break free. The powerfully gigantic elephant has limited its present abilities based on the limitations of the past— Baby Elephant Syndrome.
Human being are exactly like the elephant except for one thing—we can choose not to accept the false boundaries and limitations of our past.
"Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you become."
~ Anonymous
"I am not as good as I ought to be.
I am not as good as I want to be.
I am not as good as I'm going to be.
But I am thankful that I am better than I used to be."
~ former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden
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