Are You Smarter Than These Monkeys?

There is a long-standing way to capture monkeys. As the video below shows, it is relatively easy to trap a monkey in a simple trap.

All the hunters need to do is find a calabash, gourd, coconut, etc. that can be hollowed out. They then make the opening wide enough that a monkey’s hand can get in but they are unable to pull their clenched fist out.

The trap is simple.

The monkey reaches in for the prize (fruit, nuts, etc.) and seizes it.

The problem the monkey faces is that as long as it holds onto the prize, they are trapped since they can’t pull their fist back out.

The monkey works and works to find a way out, without “losing” the prize. The monkey is so caught up in keeping the prize that the hunters are able to walk up and capture that monkey with their bare hands.

Humans Are No Smarter

We consider ourselves smarter and more advanced thank monkeys but humans have been snared in a simple trap just like the monkey.

Instead of having our hands ensnared in a gourd or coconut, our minds are what have been ensnared.

In the past couple of centuries, we have come to expect the government and business to take care of us.

We expect a pension or retirement plan from our corporate overlords.

We expect Social Security and other government programs to help us.

In believing this, we have fallen into a mental trap that puts our financial security and freedom in the hands of someone else.

Your Thinking Controls Your Future

In “The Traveler’s Gift”, by Andy Andrews, we are taught via a fascinating journey through time that “we are all in situations of our own choosing. Out thinking creates a pathway to success or failure. By disclaiming responsibility for our present, we crush the prospect of an incredible future that might have been ours.”

You are where you are because of your thinking. Your thinking dictates your decisions. Decisions are choices… Years ago, you began making the choices that led you to your present situation. And you walked right down the middle of the path every step of the way.
~Harry Truman to David Ponder, The Traveler’s Gift

If we like the monkey have become trapped by a decision we made, we are the only one to blame. We made the decision. It might have been the least bad option to pick, but we still picked it.

“The bad news is that the past was in your hands, but the good news is that the future, my friend, is also in your hands.”

Letting Go Of Bad Decisions

The monkey will not let go of the prize and is eventually caught by the hunters and will lose his freedom.We need to be smarter than the monkey and decide to let go of thoughts and actions that have trapped us; before it is too late.

The good news is that we can begin making better decisions TODAY.

Our lives are like a large ship on the open waters; we can turn the ship around, but it might take a long time to see the results. But each small course correction can lead to a better destination.

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This is a modified version of a post that was originally posted on my previous blog, FaceYourGoliaths.com