What does that even mean? And are you living under mental enslavement without even knowing it?
Mental enslavement can easily be explained using the story of a baby elephant. A baby elephant is tied to a tree every night with a strong rope. It tries and fails countless times to free itself from its confinement because it isn’t strong enough to break the rope yet. These numerous failures, nevertheless, will already begin to condition the mind of the baby elephant, so that when it is grown and strong enough to set itself free from a similar situation, it won’t even attempt at it because it now deeply believes that the rope will always be stronger.
That is mental enslavement. And in your own life, the rope could be anything ranging from your fears, insecurities, past trauma, current circumstances to just anything that is holding you back from realizing your full potential.
Here are a few signs that you are mentally enslaved:
- Experiencing self-doubt or doubt in your aspirations.
- Feelings of inferiority or feeling like you’re not good enough.
- Realizing that you’ve been underproductive or not as productive as you’re certain you can be. This includes noticing that you give up easily in the face of any level of difficulty.
- Being too scared to try.
- If you’re being exploited by another person in any way, at your workplace, school, in any relationship or groups, and you find that you’re unable to oppose such a person, then it’s very likely that you’re functioning under mental enslavement.
“The biggest enemy you have to deal with is yourself. If there’s no enemy within, then the enemy outside can do [you] no harm,” says Les Brown, an American motivational orator who speaks a lot about the power of the mind.
There’s nothing that’s happening to you or around you that isn’t a manifestation of what goes on in your head. Hence, you shouldn’t let your fear of failure outweigh your desire to succeed. Healing is possible. Self-love and appreciation are attainable. Success can be yours if only you reach out and take it. Standing up for yourself is not an impossible feat.
You just have to want it enough for it to become your reality.
