Aren’t we capable of more? Can we learn to avoid our cycle of mistakes? Cycle of bad relationships? Cycle of bad behaviors? Cycle of misfor- tunes? We can live a life of purpose, aspire to excellence, and do some- thing that makes the world a better place. Countries can cooperate for a better tomorrow for mankind. We really should not engage ourselves in meaningless cycles of things that we do every day.
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
Case D Stupendous Crabbing Interferences
When a solitary crab is in a bucket without the lid, it will have no trouble escaping.
But if you have a bucket full of crabs, whenever one gets to the top and is about to escape, the rest of the crabs will reach out and pull him back down to the bottom with the rest of them.
This is very notable in the arenas of politics, organizations, workplaces, sports, and businesses.
When you have a creative idea, someone tries to steal it.
When you have an adorable girlfriend or boyfriend, someone else comes up to take them away from you.
When you have capabilities and enormous potential, someone tries to put you down or discourage you.
When you make breakthroughs in science, someone ridicules you. When you hit the lottery, someone is plotting to win over your fortune.
You are sabotaged because you are successful. You are put down be- cause they cannot bear that you are intrinsically better than them. You are attacked on all fronts, because your innovations will deprive all
Life Lessons f r om nature
sides of their traditional benefits. Even when no benefits are involved, some one will just do it out of pure jealousy to crab you down.
Make sure that you’re not surrounded by crabs. Make sure you are sur- rounded by positive people who have an interest in your success. Make sure all these positive energies and enthusiasm for life is never dimin- ished. Encourage your group and be inspired by them. Give them a helping hand when they need it. Do not hesitate to ask for help from your group of positive people. Life is a process of mutually uplifting and sublimation. We can all be the best versions of ourselves given encouragement and support. We can all have a better tomorrow and bring in the new dawn of civilization tomorrow if we help one another.
Break free, break through, and then break-dance to a beautiful life.
Chapter 5 Bring Out the Greatness in You
8
Case A The Real Ugly Duckling:
Hans Christian Andersen
The Ugly Duckling is a tale that is completely Andersen’s invention and owes no debt to fairy- or folklore. Andersen had pioneered a story- telling style that carefully, skillfully embedded comedy, social critique, satire, and philosophy aimed at adult readers. Andersen’s original fairy tales are far more sophisticated and multilayered than the simple chil- dren’s fables they’ve become in all too many translated editions, retell- ings, and media adaptations.
In this story, Andersen is motivating us through the life and tribula- tions of himself. Hans Christian Andersen’s own life had many of the aspects of a fairy tale: he was born the son of a poor cobbler and he died a rich and famous man, celebrated around the world, the intimate of kings and queens.
Life Lessons f r om nature
The tall, eccentric, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet was ill at ease with other children, and disliked by his peers and went through lots of humiliation. Retreating to his private quarters, he spent his time read- ing, dreaming, and sewing costumes out of scraps for his puppet the- ater. Even when he grew up with a beautiful singing voice and a passion for the theater, he was cruelly teased and mocked by other children.
Speculation suggests that Andersen was the illegitimate son of Prince Christian Frederik (later King Christian VIII of Denmark), and he found this out some time before he wrote the book, and then that be- ing a swan in the story was a metaphor not just for inner beauty and talent but also for secret royal lineage. Andersen also suggests the Ugly Duckling’s superiority resides in the fact that he is of a breed different from the ducks, and that dignity and worth, moral and aesthetic supe- riority are determined by the nature of being born a swan rather than accomplishment.
The moral of the story in this new perspective is then Who You Are
Meant to Be.
The ugly duckling may had lived and died as a duck, for that’s what he thought he was. Except many strange turn of events and encounters force the Ugly Duckling to realize its potential, the real potential and capabilities of a swan.
Unfortunately, most people think that the benefits of the flock apply to humans as well.
Whilst we are undoubtedly meant to be in community with others, the flock can hold us back.
• The flock resists change, creativity, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
• The flock allows you to hide away and not reach your full potential.
• The flock encourages yes-men and unthinking consensus.
• The flock is cynical and pessimistic.
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
• The flock knows its rights, but forgets its responsibilities.
• The flock is slow to respond and takes a long time to change direction.
• The flock is suspicious of anyone who is different in speech, ap- pearance, or beliefs.
• The flock philosophizes and complains, but leaves the action to others.
Flocks are a great idea for ducks, because they increase the chances of survival.
Do you want to be merely existing from day to day or living your life’s fullest?
I would encourage everyone to make sure that they have a group of people around them who inspire and challenge them to greater things.
All Andersen wants is to encourage you today that you are a swan. You are born to be a swan.
You may have been brought up in a situation that limited your under- standing of your potential, but it’s time now for the past to lose its hold on you.
Don’t die thinking you’re an Ugly Duckling.
Soar high, just as you were meant to be, as a Beautiful Swan! Bring out the greatness in yourself!
Life Lessons f r om nature
Case B Indoctrination of the
Young Elephant in the Circus
The circus trainer puts a metal chain around the young elephant’s leg and hinges it on a metal peg. This restrains it from moving far. The young elephant will initially try to break free and escape.
It will try until it bruises itself all over, hurting its knees and legs in the process. It will use all the strength it has got to break free until it exhausts itself. Day after day, week after week, month after month, the young elephant keeps trying relentlessly. It realizes that the metal peg and metal chain together will always be more forceful than itself no matter under what circumstances.
It comes to the conclusion that escaping is futile and gives in to the restraint, enabling the trainer to control the elephant for the rest of its life. From then on, all that is required is a chain around its leg and a wooden peg in the ground that you or I could pull out, but the el- ephant doesn’t. Every day the adult elephant looks at the outside world of the circus in despair, wondering where is its freedom? Every day the adult elephant looks beyond the circus and thinks back to the days when it was young, how it enjoyed the grassland, the savannahs, the forests, the deserts and the marshes.
It will never occur to the elephant that by the time it has grown up, it can easily pull out the wooden peg and break free of the metal chains. Why? Because it doesn’t think that it can. That elephant has lived a
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
lifetime of captivity and slavery, never being able to run free due to a limiting thought process that it had held onto from a young age.
Whilst that is very sad and inhumane, even sadder is the way that adult humans become indoctrinated to think they cannot do this or that as if an invisible chain and peg are in place. Specific incidents, schools, churches, and
family values do indoctrinate us and prevent us from re- alizing our maximum potential. Typical demeaning moments include:
• “You will never do well in math.”
• “You will never be a singer.”
• “You will never change for the better.”
• “Money is evil. Since it is evil, you should not have too much.”
• “You should not have strange ideas.”
• “You should follow the footsteps of your neighbors.”
• “No girl will ever marry you.”
• Significant emotional abuse from a person of influence in your life.
• Failed attempts that you haven’t yet learned from.
You don’t have to live like the elephant. You just have to liberate your mindset.
Today, test yourself against the chain and peg again. Today, start doing whatever you have always hoped to do.
Today, you regain your freedom and worth as a valuable person.
Today, the elephant will roam in the natural habitat with majesty and dignity.
Today, you will break free from the past indoctrinations!
Life Lessons f r om nature
Case C Fred the Flea and the Glass Ceiling
A flea was placed into a small cylinder and then covered with a glass pane. The glass pane was then removed. As you would expect, the flea quickly jumps out of the cylinder and escapes.
Then the flea was caught and placed into the cylinder again. The cylin- der was again covered by the glass pane. This time around, the glass pane was not removed at all.
The flea immediately jumped. This time, however, he hit the glass and bounced off.
Undaunted, the flea kept repeating this behavior every few minutes, and each time, the flea got less aggressive and energetic.
Meanwhile, the outside world in all its serene gorgeousness lured the flea to come to its arms. Undaunted, the flea kept repeating this be- havior every few hours until it eventually slowed down.
As time went on, it eventually got tired of hitting the glass and stopped jumping altogether.
Then the glass pane, the so-called glass ceiling, was removed.
The flea, now trained to believe a barrier existed between him and the outside world, did not jump.
Eventually, it was left to die in the cylinder.
This story is a great reminder that sometimes after receiving multi- ple setbacks, we just give up and stop trying. Even when there are no
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
longer obstacles in our path, we have a tendency to train our mind to think that because we were unsuccessful in the past, there is an invisible barrier in our way.
Don’t fall for it! Make sure that any obstacles to your success are real and not just mental barriers. And then work out a plan to overcome them.
• Margaret Thatcher overcame the glass ceiling of gender bias to be- come the first female prime minister.
• Barack Obama overcame the glass ceiling of racial prejudice to be- come the first African American president.
• William James Sidis overcame the glass ceiling of youth ineptness and set a record in 1909 by becoming the youngest person to enroll at Harvard University.
• One of the most surprising facts about Beethoven is that he was deaf. How can a musician, a composer, lack what we would imag- ine to be his most important sense? How did he overcome his glass ceiling?
Identify your glass ceilings, and make your leap!
Chapter 6 No Risk, No Gain
8
Case A The Dangerous Journey of the
Serengeti Migration
Every year, over two million wildebeest and zebra make their way around the Serengeti/Masai Mara ecosystem, following the rains and the green grass that follows. The highlight of this dangerous journey is the crossing of the Mara River in Kenya.
Some 250,000 wildebeest die during the journey from Tanzania to Masai Mara Reserve in lower Kenya, a total of 30,000 kilometers (18,645 miles). Death is usually from thirst, hunger, exhaustion, or predation. Along this lifelong journey, wildebeest face never-ending challenges. They can drown crossing rivers or become crocodile bait. On land they are pursued by lions, hyenas, leopards, and cheetahs.
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
It does all come down to the famous crossing of the Mara River, though. Forced on by the power of the herd, the wildebeest have no choice but to take a suicidal plunge into the crocodile-infested waters, often drowning in the thousands.
The wildebeest can gather for days on the banks of the river, plucking up the courage to make the crossing. There is an ebb and flow; a back and forth as their bravery builds, which is quickly diminished when they get close to the water. Everyone is waiting for the first wildebeest to jump in. All this waiting only adds to the excitement. They seem to do their best not to cross, but the overwhelming instinctive drive even- tually pushes them to do it. The tension that flows from the herd is pal- pable as they pluck up the courage to start the crossing. Eventually, one brave/stupid/pushed wildebeest makes the leap of faith, and is rapidly followed by the rest of the herd. The tension climbs to a maximum in seconds as literally tens of thousands of wildebeest and a few hundred zebra hustle to get across the most daunting challenge that faces them on their yearly migration. Once the mega herd has entered the water, the current takes the herd downstream, often to a point in the river that doesn’t have an exit, leaving the animals swimming to their demise. This is where the crocodiles come in. They are smart animals, having played this game for many decades. The crocodiles don’t waste their energy on fit and strong individuals that have just entered the river; they target the poor chaps that are swimming around aimlessly, get- ting more and more tired. Wildebeest migrations are closely followed by vultures, as wildebeest carcasses are an important source of food for these scavengers.
There are many great individual triumphs through all the commotion. A very large percentage of the animals that cross the Mara River make it to the other side, and carry on the cycle. It is extremely uplifting to watch a wildebeest or zebra fight the odds—against the crocodiles, the current, the stampede, and blocked exit points—and make it out the other side to fight another day.
Life Lessons f r om nature
Opposing rainfall and plant nutritional gradients best explain the wil- debeest migration in the Serengeti.
A herd of wildebeest possesses what is known as a “swarm intelligence,” whereby the animals systematically explore and overcome the obstacle as one.
• The primary defensive tactic is herding, where the young animals are protected by the older, larger ones while the herd runs as a group. Typically, the predators attempt to cut out a young or ill animal and attack without having to worry about the herd.
• Wildebeest have developed additional sophisticated cooperative behaviors, such as animals taking turns sleeping while others stand guard against a night attack by invading predators. Scientists are unsure how much is learned behavior and how much is instinct.
• In the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, wildebeest may help facilitate the migration of other, smaller-bodied grazers, such as Thomson’s gazelles, which eat the new-growth grasses stimulated by wilde- beest foraging.
• Zebras and wildebeest group together in open savannah environ- ments with high chances of predation. This grouping strategy reduces predation risk because larger groups decrease each indi- vidual’s chance of being hunted, and predators are more easily seen in open areas.
• Wildebeest can also listen in on the alarm calls of other species, and by doing so can reduce their risk of predation. Wildebeests respond more strongly to the baboon alarm calls compared to the baboon contest calls, though both types of calls have similar pat- terns, amplitudes, and durations. The alarm calls were a response of the baboons to lions, and the contest calls were recorded when there was a dispute between two males.
• During February the wildebeest spen
d their time on the short grass plains of the southeastern part of the ecosystem, grazing and giv- ing birth to approximately 500,000 calves within a 2- to 3-week
Par t 1 Personal Mo ti vation
period: a remarkably synchronized event. Few calves are born ahead of time and of these, hardly any will survive. The main reason for this being that very young calves are more noticeable to predators when mixed with older calves from earlier in the previous year, and so are easier prey.
You think your life is bad? Try being a migrating wildebeest! Wildebeest manage all the dangers and anxieties well.
• Wildebeest are survivors, and what makes an animal (or a person) a survivor is that something extra that keeps them moving—a strong drive to go forward and live the life they are born to live despite overwhelming odds.
• Wildebeest don’t allow the struggles of previous migrations to prevent them from further travel. Neither do they contemplate what may lie ahead. They’d be paralyzed with fear if they did that. Instead, wildebeest live in the present moment.
• Wildebeest instinctively know the risks of migration are worth the journey. Fresh, rain-ripened grass and fresh drinking water mean life in all its abundance. Life means the continuance of an amazing species of animal.