Terrie’s Tip – Don’t stay chained up like an elephant. Break free and feel empowered.

Fully grown elephants weighing many tons appear docile and never try to run away when they are only held back by a relatively small chain and peg in the ground. Why?

Because they are trained like that when they are young. This happens when they are small enough that the chain will hold them. But they never realize as they grow that they definitely outweigh that same chain and could easily break away.

So many of us are stuck in a belief system and with thoughts/ideas that were engrained in us as little children. These continued to be reinforced as we became toddlers then teens and because they were things we heard over and over again, they became “the gospel” for us. Never questioned, never even thought about. We’ve grown and are out of that environment/house and are in a position where we can examine our ideas and beliefs and change them.

But if we never even think to question something, we are just as much a prisoner as the gigantic elephant. Maybe your family taught that certain people were not as good as others and as you grew it was repeated over and over again. You never even bothered to question if that was really true or not. Why not break through the chain and re-evaluate all the things you learned as a child.

I had that experience several years ago. I had been raised to believe that one political party was the “only” political party. And i really could have cared less – all i cared about when i was growing up was becoming a doctor. The rest of the world didn’t exist. But if someone asked which party I supported, i would simply parrot the one my parents told me was correct.

Then my father died and a few years later I was talking to my mother and she shocked me and told me she was supporting someone from the other party for president. I was shocked. I asked why and her reason made sense. And you know what? I finally asked questions, did research and broke my “elephant chain” and realized she was right and that what I had been taught all my life did not align with what I really believed. That was an eye opener to me but it is a perfect example of this.

Take a look at what beliefs might be chained around your leg. I find it easier to really figure things out if you know someone who exemplifies what you’re trying to take a look at. It’s easier because you actually see a human being and not just an object/concept. I know a lot of people who are homophobic until they find out who in their lives are gay. Then it doesn’t seem to matter as much because it’s what that person represents that matters, not what label is placed on him/her. Open your mind and investigate everything. This is Pride month so it’s a good time to check out the entire gender issue. There are so many different variations now that I am not even familiar with them all and am going to use this month to find out more about it.

What’s your elephant chain?