What paralyzes our mind and makes us stop thinking?
What has the power to paralyze our minds?
“Let the games begin!” bellowed the potbellied announcer as his voice ignited the blood-thirsty crowd into a frenzied uproar.
Immediately large iron gates surrounding the arena clattered open. A whole hoard of gangly prisoners stumbled into the amphitheater. Some were partially covered in crude scraps of armor. Others dragged fraying fishing nets and blunt pitch forks. Finally, a few cowered behind fragile wooden shields and blunt metal swords.
But before any of them could blink the sun out of their eyes, a multitude of trap doors sprang open. Out of the sandpits, leapt half a dozen ravenous lions. They immediately barreled towards their frazzled prey and began sinking their fangs and claws into any and all exposed flesh. Blood-curling screams of pain and terror gripped the cowering prisoners.
As this blood-bath ensured, the Roman emperor rose to his feet. As he hastily descends the marble steps towards the front row of the stadium, a big burly guard abruptly blocked his way.
“Your highness!” yelped the Roman legionnaire. “Where are you going?”
“Out of my way, Marcellus!” grumbled the Roman Emperor. His ring covered fingers aggressively gripped his guard’s shoulder, and flung him to the side. “I am on my way to the very front so I can see the action more clearly!”
Stumbled forward, Marcellus once again leapt in front of the Roman emperor and worriedly pleaded for him to return back to the safety of his throne. “Emperor! Those prisoners down there are savages! If you get too close, one of them may throw a spear and strike you down.”
“Silly guard!” roared the emperor. “None of these savages will ever lay a hand on me. For the wild animals they fight have already bewitched their minds with fear. So obsessed are they with surviving, that they will never consider anything else; including killing me.”
Fear is such a toxic and paralyzing emotion that it shuts down multiple parts of our mind. Even though it is meant to help us focus on ways to survive, it also inadvertently blinds us from having the creativity and teachability to rise beyond our circumstances.
