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Dale posted an update 2 years, 9 months ago
During a BRUTAL study at Harvard in the 1950s, Dr. Curt Richter placed rats in a pool of water to test how long they could tread water.
On average they’d give up and sink after 15 minutes.
But right before they gave up due to exhaustion, the researchers would pluck them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few minutes – and put them back in for a second round.
In this second try – how long do you think they lasted? 🤔
Remember – they had just swam until failure only a few short minutes ago…
How long do you think?
Another 15 minutes?
10 minutes?
5 minutes?
No!
60 hours! 😳
That’s not an error. 🤷🏼♀️
That’s right! 60 hours of swimming.
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.
I will leave you with this thought:
If hope can cause exhausted rats to swim for that long, what could a belief in yourself and your abilities, do for you?
*Remember what you’re capable of. Remember why you’re here.
Keep swimming.
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