Monday, November 28, 2005
The most damaging phrase in the language is: "It's always been done that way."
-Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
Once I read a story about five monkeys: "What Fools Can Learn From Apes." The story goes:
"Start with a cage containing five monkeys. In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.
"After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result -- all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.
"Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.
"Now, turn off the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.
"Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm. Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
"After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.
"Why not?
"Because that's the way it's always been around here."
It's really funny; how we follow the way things have been done always without asking ourselves why or what can be done to improve it. Why are we afraid of change? Is there an internal feeling inside each of us to stop us from daring and attempting to reach out for what we really want? Are we afraid of the cold water?
Think with me; isn't this what is really holding us back from realizing our full potential and making our dreams come true?
Why don't we have the courage to change?
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Khalidah
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Wow, this story really struck a chord with me. It's really true!
I recently wrote something related to this. We prefer doing things the way we've always done them, and in fact, we only still do them for that particular reason. We're intimidated by change, even when we know it holds something better for us. We somehow feel safer in following the norm because change means stepping into the unknown and living differently.
Wow, we could achieve so much if only we were strong enough to let go!