The mystery of the elephant

I was impressed, however, that after each performance the circus staff chained the elephant to a tiny stick, barely submerged in the sand. This was a great mystery to me. Even if the chain was thick and strong, an animal that could knock down an entire wall with one pull could easily free itself from the stick and set it on its feet.

What was holding the elephant back? Why didn't he blow it?

When I was five or six years old, I still thought that adults knew everything. So I went and asked my teachers, my uncle and my mother, about the mystery of the elephant. They explained to me that the elephant did not burst it because it had been tamed. Then, as was reasonable, I asked them: "If he is tamed and that's why he doesn't run, why are they tying him?" No one knew how to answer this question for me. A long time later, one night, I met a very wise man who had traveled to India and he helped me find the answer.

The circus elephant had been tied to a stick since he was small. I remember closing my eyes and thinking of the little, newborn baby elephant sitting tied to the wood. I imagined it pushing and pulling the chain every day and night, all day, trying to get loose. I could almost see it going to sleep every night exhausted from fatigue thinking that the next morning it would try again. All was in vain: the stick was too strong for a newborn animal, even if we are talking about an elephant.

Until one day, the saddest day of his young life, the baby elephant accepted that it could not be freed and surrendered to its fate. I understood then why the mighty and huge elephant I saw in the circus was chained. He was now certain that he would never be able to free himself from his stick. The ugly animal he already had failure etched in his mind in his elephant memory and he would never, ever again, test his power again... Some nights I dream that I approach the chained elephant and say in his ear: “you know something? We both look alike.

You think that you too can't do certain things because, once, you tried and failed. You have to understand that time has passed and today you are older and stronger than before. If you really wanted to break free, I'm sure you could do it. Why don't you try it?' Sometimes I wake up thinking my elephant, after all, one day he tried and succeeded in uprooting the wood. Then I smile and imagine that the huge animal continues to travel with the circus because he is happy to see the children having fun, but without a chain.

This is the famous story "The Chained Elephant" by Jorge Bucay and you might be wondering what it has to do with the money game…

Most people live a captive life, trapped by a lack of self-esteem, by destructive habits and relationships, by a boring job and mountains of debt.

Life is not meant to be lived this way. Because we are born free. We are free to explore, acquire skills, imagine, achieve and define our own path in life!

Unfortunately we can trade our freedom for other things. One of the biggest temptations of modern society is "buy now, pay later". When a person is mainly concerned with the satisfaction of desires in the present, he will inevitably be faced with the specter of poverty in the future. Too many people will never find prosperity in their lives because they exchanged their future freedom for the possession of things in the here and now.

And this happens gradually with small, almost imperceptible compromises. Which don't bother, because for the freedom that is sacrificed, there is a trade-off that promises (temporary) happiness. After years of such compromises it has been created a captivity to a certain way of life, a schedule, a boss, a repayment schedule and more.

The answer for anyone in this position is simple: Stop turning your life into a prison. You were born to live in prosperity and not in captivity... The purpose is to live a life rich in personal freedom.

To be led to freedom is necessary to learn how to play the right money game!

This wonderful road it can start now for you too and it's full of surprises! It's your time. Dare it!