Tools for Growth 01-12-16 (part I)

Have you ever seen the Walt Disney story about Dumbo, a young circus elephant who was born with unusually enormous ears? Because he was different, he was treated as a freak by all the other elephants. Except for Dumbo’s loving and protective mother, all the elephants made fun of him.

Poor Dumbo. He could hardly walk without tripping over his ears, and he found himself in all kinds of trouble because of them. Oh how he wished he’d never been cursed with those big floppy ears!

Then a small circus mouse, named Timothy, felt sorry for Dumbo and made friends with him. Timothy encouraged Dumbo to ignore the criticism and instead see himself as someone special. But things just seemed to go from bad to worse.

And then comes one particular scene. A turning point for Dumbo. He wakes up one morning to find himself and Timothy nestled high up in the branches of a tree. They can’t figure out how in the world they got up there. After all, elephants can’t climb trees!

Suddenly the moment of revelation strikes. The light bulb flashes on. Timothy cries out, “Dumbo!  You must’ve flown up into the tree! Dumbo! You can fly!”

It is the next statement from this little cartoon rodent that is so incredibly profound. He looks at his perplexed elephant friend and says, “The very things that held you down are going to carry you up and up and up!”

What a powerful perspective! “The very things that held you down are going to carry you up!” What brings Dumbo success in the end, what makes him the big star of the circus, the famous flying elephant, is not a change in his situation. He still has the big, drooping ears. What changes is his perspective. Now he sees his potential. His handicap turns out to be his best friend. His deformity hasn’t changed; he changed. Instead of seeing his difference as a curse, he begins to see it as a blessing. His paradigm has radically shifted.

And that transforms his life. The very things that held him down are now carrying him up! You see, life is really all about perspective. It’s what you think about what you’re experiencing that makes so much difference. You may not be able to change your situation, but you can choose your response to it. It’s what you do with what you have that helps shape your outcome.

Isn’t that what the four soils in our story tell us? The difference between the good soil and the other three isn’t the external circumstances. The seed in the good soil experienced the same hot sun, the same birds flying overhead, weeds popping up there, too. But what made the difference in the end was the depth of the soil, the amount of cultivation taking place, the working and tilling and fertilizing and weeding done to this soil, the soil allowing the farmer to do what he does best. The result was an abundant harvest symbolic of a life of fruitfulness, productivity and satisfaction.