When you’re a kid, you jump up on these (the monkey bars) for fun. That’s why they have these at just about every school playground. This (your mind) doesn’t get in the way so much. You just jump up and then swing on across. But as soon as we’re adults, we think, “Eh, gee, I don’t know about that. Looks hard, I might fall. I might look silly. My arms are gonna hurt. I’m gonna get blisters.”
So, we just stay on the ground and we sit on the bench while the kids have all the fun.
Walk With Me: YouTube Subscribe | Mailing List
But what about if, on the other end of the monkey bars, you had a goal. It doesn’t matter what it is, but let’s suppose you’ve got a goal, something that you’d like to have or do or be or become. And in order to achieve that goal, you’ve gotta get to the other end of the monkey bars. Well, now you’ve got some incentive to get into the game!
Now, if you really wanted to get to that goal, what would you do? Would you be willing to maybe fall a couple of times? I would. Would you try to get a little bit stronger, maybe even drop a little bit of weight so it was easier to get across?
Kids will do it because they’re tenacious and they just want to have fun.
Well, at a playground, this is something that you could learn to do if you were determined to do it. You could swing across the monkey bars and get to that goal. And let’s suppose you even got so good at it that 100 times out of 100, you could swing right across and get to whatever you wanted, but then suppose that we throw this variable in: the bigger the goal, the higher the monkey bars. So now you’re looking to achieve something that you’ve never done before, have something that you never really conceived that you could ever have, and you know that you can do the process, but we’re gonna raise these things (the monkey bars) two, let’s call it even 300 feet up into the air. Would you go (up there) to be able to achieve that big goal?
Remember, 100 times out of 100, you can swing across, but now all of a sudden with those things (the monkey bars) way up in the air, the only thing that’s getting in your way again is this thing right here (your head), and now we’re right back to where we started, whether we were just even willing to jump up and get started or not.
Kids will do it because they’re tenacious and they just want to have fun, but the rest of us, a lot of us never know how it feels to get to the other side. We don’t want to step out on a limb, and that’s too bad, because that’s where all the best fruit is.
Come along on the journey! SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel and join my mailing list for updates.
The message is that if you want to do something , no matter how hard, you will give it a try if you had the right attitude. the mind will give up before the body. The moral of the monkey bar is the same, no matter how high it is, will your mind let you. A very good message to us all, never give up trying.
Thank you Andrew. Your time and perspective are much appreciated.
Best wishes!
Kevin
Great analogy! I think as kids we were much more determined and brave, but time has a way of beating us down and making us fearful. I really wonder how this all happens? I love this article and I’m going to remember it for the goals I have for myself.
Good for you, Linda! Get up on those bars and go get your goals. May as well have fun doing it too 🙂
Best wishes,
Kevin
Wow! This was a great intro! I love the concept you use here. It really makes you stop and think about what a person could be missing. I’m intrigued to find out more! See you down the road soon!
Thanks Mark, I appreciate the visit and the kind words. Come back anytime!
Best wishes,
Kevin
Wow, I loved this post, we definitely start to worry a lot after growing up which makes us forget all the fun we used to have when we were not a prisoner of our fears.
Yeah, I agree that imagining a goal, in the end, will motivate us to try monkey bars, (at least most of us). But I wonder what about doing it just for fun? Just like a kid, as you have mentioned the process.
Goals get much easier to achieve when we start to enjoy the process I have observed. The thought of getting nothing for the effort alone can sometimes take away all the fun we might have in taking the baby steps.
What lies across the river is a totally different question, I think learning to enjoy every moment is always the most important part.
Hari, what a fabulous bunch of observations. I love what you said with, “Goals get much easier to achieve when we start to enjoy the process.” Exactly! Working at the goal must ADD to the enjoyment of the present moment. I never understood that until recently, and still need to remind myself a little bit every day. Thank you for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
Best wishes!
Kevin