Flea circuses were once a unique phenomenon of nineteenth-century Europe with the tiny animals putting on impressive performances for the onlookers. The miniature circuses with travel from fair to fair and became popular attractions in many cities.
The organizers would set up a large magnifying glass behind which the fleas would put on their show, jumping through hoops of fire, pulling miniature carts and more. The animals certainly appeared well trained and didn’t even try to jump to escape, an astounding fact considering that the flea is nature’s undisputed champion high jumper, with the amazing ability of leaping more than 300 times its own height.
How, then, can a flea be trained?
The flea is put into a jar that has a clear glass top fixed to it. The moment the flea is put into the jar, it begins to jump in an effort to escape – only to slam into the glass top.
Being a flea in doing what comes naturally, the animal continues to jump, and, of course, continues to slam into the glass top – twice, five times, twenty times – until it finally understands and even learned just how high it can jump without getting hurt.
The flea can then be removed from the jar without fear that it will try to jump away; from this point onwards and throughout its life, the flea will not try to jump beyond that specific height.
And there you have it – a trained flea!
Who do you think is easier to train, please, or human beings?
*From the book Points of You
—-
We all have our own versions of that “glass lid”. We’ve all been rejected, we’ve all been hurt, we’ve all been embarrassed, and we’ve all failed.
But remember, the “glass lid” has been lifted. It’s no longer there.
Are you “trained” to only jump as high as you think you can go?
Or are you going to keep jumping higher and higher to find out just how high you can really go?
If you’re ready to find out just how far you can go, then you and I should have a conversation.
Leave a Reply