Motivation Mayhem

Is this a story about essential encouragement or superficial slogans?

In the gentle hush of the hour before dawn, Max, the elephant trainer, was tending to his gorgeous giants. It was a time he cherished, the quiet moments before the world awoke, filled with the soft sounds of contented rumbles and the rustle of straw. Max would have time to simply be with them and speak with them in his own way before Ron began making his demands. Of course, Willow and Daisy would not respond with words, but Max knew what they were saying.

But today, just as the first birds were warming up, this tranquil routine was unexpectedly interrupted. Peering out from the elephant's tent, Max spied a figure moving purposefully across the grounds. Ron, the circus's new Ringmaster, moving rapidly, seemed out of place in the predawn calm. He was carrying a curious collection of rolled-up posters and a ring of tape around his wrist. What was he up to? Max decided to find out.

Curiosity piqued and routine forgotten, Max followed at a distance, enjoying the adventure of acting like a spy. There was Ron, moving like a man on a mission. He entered each communal area and came out with a reduced posters pile. Max watched this pattern repeat until Ron exited the dining hall and appeared to be done. As Ron, with a proud smile, sashayed back to his van, Max slipped into the dining tent's entrance. With the first rays of sunlight sneaking in, Max could see the walls now decorated with a dozen motivational posters.

Each sheet presented a scene of people and animals doing extreme feats, followed by bright and bold slogans. The one he stood before showed an elephant, like Willow, balancing on a ball. Beneath it read, "Turn the impossible into I'm possible." Max was perplexed, but his contemplations were soon disrupted by the cooks clamouring in to begin the breakfast shift. For a moment, they joined Max and shared musings about this latest imposition on their space but dispersed when it was decided that, as always, Ron would soon reveal their purpose. Besides, they had more important things to think about – like bacon!

**************

Ron had returned from the leadership seminar with renewed vigour and resolve. He was going to transform his troupe into a high-performing team and had decided on the way to do it. Surrounded by his peers and inspired by presentations, he witnessed the power of words. Those they spoke made him feel supported, and the visions gave him vitality. Compared to the circus world, where he still felt like an outcast, he was amongst those who aspired to awesomeness and felt understood and accepted. What brought the participants together was a shared belief in the slogans they shouted out at the start of each session.

"Achieving the unachievable." was the maxim for the first morning.

“Bend, Break, Become." was the battle cry for the second.

“No limits, limitlessness." was the slogan for the last day.

Each speaker also had their own expressions that Ron repeatedly wrote in the hotel notebook with the hotel pen. He was also so excited to take home the mini toiletries.

These statements roused complete strangers into a collegiate club. Instantly, they had a shared language, and Ron knew that this would also work for his circus. Forget Cirque des étoiles; he would start again in a new way. And he would use these statements to stir the spirit of his people. After the concluding dinner at the conference, while others went out to drink, Ron stayed in his room. He scribbled out the first set of mottos to meld and motivate his people.

************

Ron, buoyed by a sense of mission, called for an assembly in the main tent. The performers trickled in, their curiosity tinged with a hint of scepticism. Over the years, they had seen too many stupid schemes to hold much stock in whatever was to come next. Still, they did feel for Ron. His intentions seemed pure, even if his methods were a little misguided.

Standing centre stage with a flourish, Ron cleared his throat, his voice echoing through the tent. His outfit shimmered under the spotlight, stars scattered across the fabric of his costume, making him appear as if cloaked in the very essence of the galaxy itself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the dawn of a new era for our circus begins today!" he announced, gesturing grandly towards the newly adorned walls.

“Somebody should have told his suit.”, said Ludo cheekily to his clown partner Benny. “It is still stuck in sleep mode.”

“Maybe it is waiting for the rooster.”, replied Benny, beginning to chuckle.

"Shall I?" suggested Ludo with a smirk.

Benny gave the nod, and Ludo let forth a loud “cocka-doodle-dooooooo!”

Consternation converted into cackles.

“Please, please, people." Ron continued, undeterred. "Take a moment to look at the wisdom on the walls around you.”

The group scanned the sides of the tent, viewing signs that said "Visualize Victory, Act With Vigour!" and " Every Challenge is a Circus!" After the perusal, the performers exchanged some wary glances.

“With these words, we will find a future of boundless success." Ron's eyes sparkled with the fervour of a revivalist preacher as he told the team that each week, they would have a new slogan. This statement would unite and guide them to greatness.

?"Our journey to greatness starts with a single step. And today, we begin with our first cry: 'Unlock your potential, one act at a time!' Repeat after me, 'Unlock your potential, one act at a time!' Ron’s voice reverberated with enthusiasm but was met with silence. Then, with a booming voice that seemed to embody the very essence of motivation, Ivan, the strongman, led the charge. "Unlock your potential, one act at a time!" he thundered, his voice carrying the reluctant murmurings of his peers.

?

Benny, in fine form with a belly full of bacon and some strongly brewed coffee, could not help himself. He turned to Ludo and, in a voice loud enough for the surrounding performers to hear, said:

"I don’t think I can unlock my potential. I lost the key down the loo.” ?This prompted a ripple of stifled laughter.

"The only thing that unlocks mine is whis-key!" said Ludo in return. "Here's to our potential," cried the clown, raising an imaginary glass in the air, and Benny joined her, both saying “Cheers” when their invisible shots struck in space.

?

Ron, undeterred by the distraction, pressed on. "Each team will have its own slogan, a mantra to energize your practices and inspire your performances. These will be your mission and are to be embedded in everything you do. I have already prepared these, crafted from the wellspring of creativity and dedication that I know resides within each of you. I will deliver these to each of you later today and we can discuss further then. In the meantime, are there any further questions?”

Sasha, one half of the daring trapeze duo, arose, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Ron," she began, her tone respectful yet tinged with undeniable scepticism, "I appreciate the effort you're putting into this, really, I do. But these are only mantras. How do you expect they will result in miracles?"

Ron turned to face her, the stars on his costume twinkling like distant promises in the dim light of the tent. For a moment, he seemed taken aback by the question, as if the possibility of doubt hadn't crossed his mind until now. Collecting himself, he replied with the same unwavering enthusiasm that had characterized his speech. "Sasha, words are the beginning of action. They're not just phrases; they're the spark that ignites the fire of inspiration within us. When we repeat these mantras, we're not just saying them; we're believing them, making them a part of who we are."

"I believe who you are is an idiot," said Leo softly, surprised by a slap on his back from Ivan, the strongman and a stare that said, "Shut up and give him a chance."

"We're with you, Ron. One act at a time," Ivan boomed, a solitary beacon of enthusiasm amidst a sea of bemusement.

As the meeting adjourned, the performers dispersed, murmurs and chuckles blending with the morning's cacophony. They could hardly wait to see what slogans would be provided later that day.

?

************

As promised, Ron spent the remainder of the morning delivering personalized slogans to each group, his face alight with the fervour of a man convinced of his own genius.

?

Ron approached the jugglers, their hands a blur as they practised, and presented them with their slogan: "Higher, Harder, Hold On!" After he left, the jugglers looked at each other in bemusement.

"I’m sorry, but what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jean asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it sounds better if you shout it?" said John.

Together, they yelled, "Higher, Harder, Hold On!".

“Nope,” said Jean. “Still nothing.”

They tried it three more times before slumping into chairs and conversing about how they would incorporate this notion into their routine.

?

Next, Ron found Sasha and Leo, still hanging from their trapeze bars, and solemnly handed them a poster that read: "Gravity is only a suggestion." Once he was out of earshot, Leo turned to Sasha, "

“Do you get it?”

“Not at all. I suggested gravity take a day off, sadly it has still shown up.”

“This is honestly just stupid.”

“Is that just a suggestion too,? or are you really sure about that?”

More snide remarks followed before the duo decided to get to work with the idea of a foundational force being flexible.

Ron approached Ivan, who was in the midst of lifting a barbell that was threatening to make the vein in his neck haemorrhage. With a flourish, Ron presented a poster that boldly declared, "Nothing is heavy when it comes from the heart!" Ivan paused, setting down the barbell with a gentle thud. "Maybe I should bench press Love then, Ron. It would be much lighter," he joked, his voice echoing warmly around the tent. Ron chuckled nervously, not entirely catching Ivan’s humour, and moved on.

Finding Marco practising in silence, Ron handed him a slogan that read, "Silence Speaks Louder Than Words!" Marco, ever the mime, responded not with words but with an exaggerated shrug and a puzzled expression that conveyed his disdain far more eloquently than any slogan could. While Ron was walking away, he wondered why Ron had given him one. What good was a slogan to someone who couldn't speak?

Ron knew the clowns were going to be a challenge. He found them rehearsing their slapstick routine and hurriedly presented them with "Seriousness in Every Smile,". Benny, not missing a beat, replied, "Thank you Ron. I have always wanted to make my audience giggle gravely and laugh humourlessly." Ron practically ran out before he could hear more.

Finally, Ron gave Max a slogan for him and his elephants: "Greater things from great things." Max, ever respectful, nodded his thanks. Still, as Ron walked away, he turned to Willow and Daisy, whispering, "Don’t worry ladies, I don’t need any slogan to tell me that you gals are great?" In their quiet wisdom, the elephants continued chewing their hay, unbothered by human follies.

?

As twilight descended upon the circus, casting a soft glow over the performers gathered around the fire, the day's events became the focal point of their conversation. The warmth of the fire provided comfort against the chill of the evening. Still, it was their shared bemusement and disbelief at Ron's latest initiative that truly brought them together.

?

"The man's outdone himself this time," Ludo remarked, shaking her head as she tossed a twig into the flames. "Motivational slogans for a circus? What's next, a seminar on the aerodynamics of pie-throwing?"

?

Laughter rippled through the group, each performer adding their own jest about the day's peculiar turn of events. "I'm half expecting to wake up tomorrow to find out we've been enrolled in a Clown Productivity' course," Benny added, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ivan, the strongman, eventually steered the conversation toward a more constructive direction. His deep and resonant voice carried weight among his companions. "Maybe there's something in this for us," he suggested, his gaze reflecting the flickering flames. "Not the slogans, mind you, but the idea behind them. Ron's looking for change, for improvement. Maybe we should show him change is possible—our own way."

?

A thoughtful silence followed as the performers considered Ivan's words.

"Call on our creativity, then?" Sasha asked a new spark of interest in her eyes.

?

"I see," said Leo, nodding. "We could take this opportunity to innovate, to blend our talents in ways we haven't before. We show Ron—and maybe even ourselves—what we're truly capable of when we channel our creativity into change. On our terms."

Ideas began to flow, each performer contributing thoughts on how they could embrace the spirit of change while remaining true to the heart of the circus. By the time the fire had burned down to embers, a collective resolution had been forged. They would meet Ron's challenge, not with resistance, but with imagination. They would show Ron there is one thing more powerful than what you say, and that is what you do.

?

The next evening's performance was unlike any that had come before. The performers had taken Ron's slogans and spun them in surprising ways.

Midway through their routine, the jugglers dramatically increased their juggling height until one of the clubs went up but did not come down. There was a roar of laughter as the jugglers scratched their heads before Leo, hiding in the darkness above the trapeze, yelled, "Hold on," and threw it back down to them. The jugglers quickly picked up huge hand gloves and ran underneath in a panic to catch it. When they did, there was thunderous applause. ?

Sasha and Leo, actually stimulated by the conversation around the fire, found a way to appear to pause at the apex of their swings. For a second, they seemed to float as if gravity had indeed taken a momentary break. Then, with perfect timing, they resumed their breath-taking stunts, leaving the audience in awe.

Benny and Ludo performed a skit where they presented a sign saying, "No laughing allowed". They wore outrageously oversized frowns, trying (and failing) to maintain a serious demeanour as they slipped, slid, and tumbled. When they could not stay serious any longer, they would break into infectious laughter that spread through the audience, which they chastised with comical “stop laughing”, only escalating the engagement and the entertainment.

Marco began his act in the usual silence, his expressions and gestures painting vivid stories in the air. But then, he introduced a series of placards before every new sequence. First, he was "Stuck in a box”, then "Pulling a rope." His exaggerations of what was written on the sign only increased the enjoyment. For his finale, Marco "climbed" an imaginary ladder, reaching higher and higher, before pretending to shout from the top—yet no sound came out. He then unfurled a banner that read, "Silence!" and gracefully descended back to the stage. As he took his bow, the audience erupted into applause, their cheers filling the silence Marco had so masterfully maintained.

For his performance, Ivan had decorated his weights with words like "Love," "Compassion," and "Joy." With a grand flourish, Ivan lifted each weight with ease, flashing a warm smile to the audience with each lift. Then he presented a heart-shaped balloon with Fear written on it in felt pen. Ivan made a show of it being impossibly heavy, straining and huffing with difficulty. After several humorous attempts, he called a small boy from the crowd. The child lifted it with ease, resulting in thunderous applause and a very chuffed child.

When the show ended, it was the elephants to shine even more. They invited the audience to join them in front of a giant canvas and in a pachyderm painting. Adults and children grabbed brushes or used their fingers and stood beside the elephants as they covered the canvas with colourful strokes and shapes. When it was complete, a photo was taken with all the participants, and they were advised to check social media for something even bigger was happening. Within minutes of it being posted for auction, the circus had raised $1,000 for a local kids charity. Mission complete.

That night, as the performers gathered around the fire, the atmosphere was one of celebration. Throughout the performances, Ron had noticed how each act applauded him as they left the circle, not in their usually snide or sarcastic way, but with genuine generosity. This had given him a feeling of warmth and courage he hadn't expected. Ron joined the gang at the fire with a smile of admiration and appreciation.

“You guys did absolutely awesome tonight. Truly, congratulations. I could never have imagined that you would be so inventive.”

Benny, seizing the moment, offered Ron a flask. "Here's a whis-key to unlocking our potential, Ron. To creativity and doing things our way!"

Ron accepted, his thanks joining the chorus of mirth that filled the air. "To creativity and doing things our way," he echoed, the firelight reflecting in his eyes.

Leo went over and wrapped his arms around Ron’s shoulders. “Ron, do you think, after seeing what we did tonight, we could agree leadership is only a suggestion?”

The laughter erupted, and this time, Ron laughed with them.