An Encouraging Word

Once a herd of elephants was traveling through the forest when two of them named Animo and Fracaso fell into a deep pit.  All the other elephants gathered around and when they saw how deep the pit was, they told Animo and Fracaso that there wasn’t any possible way for them to escape.  Initially, the two elephants inside ignored the comments and used all their strength to try and climb out of the pit, despite the fact the other elephants kept telling them to stop.  “It’s just too steep, you’ll never be able to make it out,” remarked one of the elephants.  “You are fools to keep trying.  No one has ever made it out alive,” stated another.

After trying many, many times and not being able to succeed, Fracaso decided to give up.  He had been listening to all the negative comments from the other elephants and decided it was of no use.  He went and collapsed in the corner of the pit.

Meanwhile, Animo just kept trying harder and harder.  No matter how many times the other elephants tried to dissuade him, he wouldn’t listen.  Eventually, Animo managed to make it out of the pit.  Astonished, the other elephants asked, “How did you manage to do that?”   Animo replied, “It was easy.  I just pretended that all of you were providing encouragement to me instead of telling me to give up.  I find that I am able to accomplish great things by staying positive and never letting obstacles stand in my way.”

So always think about the power of your words and remember that an encouraging word to others can always help lift them up in difficult situations!