Scoutmaster's Minute: Flea Training

Flea trainers have observed a predicable and strange habit of fleas while training them. Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.

When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They won't jump out because they can't jump out. Why? They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high.

Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing all they can do.

Far too many people exist in a world of 'what is' rather than giving thought or applying their energies to 'what can be.'

Each week you stand at your meeting and promise to do your best. That means that you should not take someone else's limits as your own, but be ready to jump out of the box when the opportunity presents itself.

From: http://www.scoutscan.com/sm_minutes/flea.html
Adapted from a column by Harvey Mackay and posted by Alan R. Houser (troop24@emf.net) on SCOUTS-L - Dec.24/00

--WB Scribbler