We can learn about our beliefs by studying fish.  (The following experiment was conducted at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute).

Get yourself an aquarium.  Divide it in half with a clear glass wall, so now you have a kind of fish "duplex".  Now find yourself a barracuda - we'll call him Barry and a mullet. (Barracuda eat mullet.)  Put one fish on each side.  In a flash, Barry will head for the mullet and ... thump ... hit the glass wall at full throttle.  He'll turn around and come back for anther shot ... thump!

Over a period of weeks, Barry will get a very sore nose.  Eventually he'll figure that mullet hunting equals pain and quit chasing the mullet.  You can then remove the glass wall and guess what!  He will stay on his side of the tank for the rest of his life.  Barry will happily starve to death, with the mullet swimming just inches away.  He knows his limits and he won't step outside them.

Is Barry's a pitiful tale?

It is actually the story of every human being.  We don't run into glass plates - we run into teachers, parents and friends who tell us where we fit and what we can do.  Worst of all, we run into our own beliefs.  Our beliefs define our territory, we argue for it and we won't step outside it.

Barry the Barracuda says: "I gave my studies, my marriage, my job my best shot once before ..."

We create our own glass cage and we think it is reality.  Actually, it's just what we believe.  And how attached are people to their beliefs?  Just try talking religion or politics at a dinner party!

"The thing always happens that you believe in and the belief in a thing makes it happen." 
*-- Frank Lloyd Wright

"The greatest crime in the world is not developing your potential. When you do what you do best, you are helping not only yourself, but the world."
*-- Roger Williams

Contributed By:
Follow Your Heart : Andrew Matthews

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