The Mental Chain

Most people are like the circus1 elephant. Have you ever seen an elephant in an indoor arena tied to a little wooden stake2？ That huge creature can pick up two thousand pounds with its trunk， yet it calmly stays tied. Why？

When that elephant was just a baby， and not very strong， it was tied by a huge chain to an iron stake that could not be moved. Regardless of how hard it tried， it could not break the chain and run free. After a while it just gave up. Now， even though it is strong， it never attempts to break free. The “imprint3” is permanent. “I can't！ I can't！” it says.

There are millions of people who behave like this circus creature. They have been tied and told “You'll never make it，” so many times they finally call it quits. They may have dreams， but the “imprinting” keeps pulling them back.

大多數人都像馬戯團裡的大象。你曾看過一頭大象被拴在室內舞台的一根小木樁上嗎？那頭龐然大物能用它的長鼻子挑起2000磅的重物，卻平靜地甘於被綁縛。爲什麽呢？

大象幼年時，身子骨還不甚強壯，就被一根巨大的鉄鏈拴在牢牢固定的鉄樁上。不琯它花多大的氣力，都無法掙斷鉄鏈，獲得自由。經過一段時間的嘗試，它便放棄了。如今，它強壯了，卻也不再試著去爭取自由了。這個“鉻印”是永久的。“我不能！我不能！”它訴說著。

無數人就像馬戯團的這頭大象一樣，他們受到束縛，聽到的是：“你永遠也做不到。”經過無數次重複，他們最終放棄了。他們可能有夢想，但“烙印”讓他們止步不前。