What's Holding You Back?

The email said, "Since I have no time and no ability to do nice things for myself ...."

And I thought about elephants -- captive elephants (not the enormous, powerful, majestic elephants that no other creature in the jungle dares to mess with). This month's Water Wings has some thoughts about our limiting beliefs.

Adult elephants are restrained by ropes or chains which they could easily break if they wished. Instead, accustomed to being tied up from an early age, they tolerate the bondage and perform as directed by humans.

Before the 2004 Indonesian tsunami struck land, the normally passive elephants broke their chains and headed for high ground. They somehow knew what was coming and focused on self-preservation. Will it take a tsunami-like event for you to begin focusing on your well being, despite the chains tethering you?

• What "no" would you like to say, but keep swallowing?

• What "yes" is burning in your heart while you're afraid to voice it?

• What do your chains look like?

• Are you always doing for others, but not doing enough for yourself?

• Are your dreams sitting on a shelf gathering dust while you go through the motions of a life devoted to "just getting by" instead of pursuing what you really want?

Perhaps your chains are your beliefs that say, "I'll never be able to do that. Just keep on. Forget about that other stuff." Maybe you failed at something once and are stuck in the fear that you'll fail again. Are you accepting another's beliefs about your limitations or what's "right" for you? Just identifying and starting to question your limiting beliefs will take away some of their power.

• What's most important to you?

• What do you have to lose?

• What do you have to gain?

• What does taking care of yourself mean for you?

• How will your life be different when you start taking care of yourself?

• How will you feel when you have the life you really want?

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True stories of connecting, awakening, seeing and knowing are at connectingstories.com

WATER WINGS FOR SUCCESS - ISSUE 2005-8 - ISSN: 1534-178X
(c) Copyright Jane Allen 2005. All rights reserved.