Living Beyond the Circus

There was a time when animals were the main characters of circus performances. Trained and tamed, lions, dolphins, and monkeys guaranteed the laughter of an attentive audience eager for fun.

In one of these circuses, there was Dorean, a charismatic elephant who had never known any other reality than that of the stage and the backstage of circus life.

Dorean enjoyed working, entertaining children and adults, but he felt sad and lonely. This is because, since he was a baby, the circus administrators kept him tied up with a rope so that he would not escape. The rope was old, worn, and obviously unable to withstand the strength of a grown elephant. But Dorean didn’t realize it. As he had always been tied up since he was little, he ignored the possibility of freeing himself. Believing that that was the only place he should be was a belief that limited him and prevented him from exploring the vast world that existed beyond those stage curtains.

When we hear about “beliefs,” we can associate them with religions, creeds, and doctrines. And it is a fact that they help to strengthen the human spirit, making us feel capable of performing actions that we previously thought we could not. But here I want to talk about Dorean’s limiting belief, I want to talk about beliefs in the most basic sense, those that are present in the realm of thoughts, always present in our internal and daily dialogue. To simplify, that belief represented by that little voice that constantly whispers in our minds the words “can” and “cannot”. Or even, “it is possible” and “it is not possible.”

More than anything else, it is this “voice” that determines our actions, the results we will achieve, the territories we will reach. It is this voice that encourages us — or not — to move forward in our weight loss process, for example. And who has never thought “it is very difficult to follow this diet, I will not be able to”? This internal dialogue reveals to us what our convictions are, what we consider to be true.

Knowing and understanding the origin of our beliefs facilitates the process of change. Yes, it is possible to change the “tone” and “message” of this inner voice. If you want to modify the way you think, there is a path and a scientific formula for transformation, but that is a topic for another article. What I am asking myself here now is: what if you were in Dorean’s place, what would you do? What limiting belief bothers you the most (we all have at least one)? And if you could change this limiting belief today, replace it with another, what would it be? What results would you achieve? Where would you go?

Imagining is fun. It is in imagination that all things are possible. So, allow yourself to see, for a few minutes, this scenario that you believe is ideal for your life. Just like you did when you were a child, imagine the possible and the impossible. Imagine without constraints… without prejudice… Who would you like to be? How would you like to act?

As for the old and tired Dorean, I heard that the circus where he worked caught fire and, like his other colleagues, he was forced to run if he wanted to survive. After that, he was never seen again. At least not inside the old and dusty canvas tents.

(And just for those who are curious about the name of our elephant friend, Dorean comes from doréan, a Greek word that means “free”).

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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