Hi Dale:

That is an amazing story. You said: “The conclusion drawn was that since the rats BELIEVED that they would eventually be rescued, they could push their bodies way past what they previously thought impossible.” Hope is such a powerful element in survival and personal growth. It can defeat us or propel us forward to new heights of achievement.

This reminds me of something I read, I do not know how accurate it is, but the theme is similar. When sailing towards the new world, Christopher Columbus would tell his sailors how far they traveled. But, he used two sets of books. One set of books he kept was for his sailors. At times, he reported what he thought would keep their expectations high. The other set of books narrated the actual distance traveled which at times, was much less than he had wanted. He understood the value of holding expectations high over allowing discouragement to set in. I won’t comment on whether this was right or wrong – assuming that it indeed did occur. But, the important thing is how we view our current situation.

A monk was asked about his experience of escaping from Tibet. He was required to walk, by foot, to India. The question was “Didn’t you ever get discouraged looking forward and seeing how much distance was yet to be covered?” The monk replied, “No, I looked back to see how much I had progressed towards my goal.”

Thank you for sharing this motivating story!

Ken