On Carrying On...

In an experiment that was conducted in the 1960’s two dogs were placed in two separate cages. Each dog then received a series of electric shocks to their hind legs at the same time. The first dog’s cage was fitted with a pad which it could push with its nose and stop the electricity. The electricity would stop for both dogs. The first dog learnt to push the pad; the second dog had no choice.

After conducting the same test 25 times, the dogs were put in different cages. This time they were subject to sharp sound. While the first dog tried to find a way to stop it, the second dog lay on floor whimpering and waiting for the sound to stop.

The second dog had learned hopelessness.

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All of us in life are faced with the same probabilities. On odds all of us face the same number of successes and failures. The order in which they arrive may vary.

Let us try a problem in permutation and combination.

S = Success

F = Failure

If I gave you 4S’ and 4F’s, in how many ways can you arrange them?

I am sure there would be one arrangement that goes - FSFSFSFS; and one that goes FFFFSSSS.

The two stories end up separating optimists from pessimists.

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What often separates optimists from pessimists is hope. Further, it is the willingness to attribute failure to factors that are temporary and can be changed, whether internal or external that makes someone an optimist.

Pessimists often assume that the failure is due to reasons which are permanent and stop trying. In their case, failure becomes a self-fulfiling prophecy.

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Focus on your self-talk. The seeds of what your life looks like today lie within it. If you think the reasons for your failure are temporary, you will change something and believe in yourself and you will persist.

It gives you the strength to carry and to find success.

Keep fighting.