The Might of Deeper Purpose

This morning a friend sent me a story. Something about this intrigued me to read it.

A king had a huge army that consisted of men, horses, and elephants. A particular elephant was his favourite. It was his trained accomplice in the war field. It complimented the King’s valour with its calm demeanour, patience, and dutiful attitude. But the elephant aged as time passed and its strength seemed to deplete. Its ability to work was found reducing. The kind-hearted King thought it is prudent that the elephant is not loaded with work and allowed to rest. Ironically, with ample chance to rest coupled with no action, the elephant appeared rather gloomy than happy. One day, when it was on its way to drinking water, it fell in a pit. Its attempt to get out failed as it slipped back again and again. Each failed attempt left the elephant more horrified, less hopeful and caused his willpower to diminish.

Upon knowing what transpired, the King sent his men to rescue the elephant. But all efforts went in vain as the elephant was too heavy for the men to bail it out. Not to forget, its own anguish also played a part in keeping it stuck. The worried King called for his Minister and turned to him for guidance. The Minister thought for a bit and asked a soldier to blow the trumpet as if to announce the onset of a War. The elephant heard the sound. As the sound of the trumpet continued and magnified, the elephant’s ears widened, eyes broadened! This was a sufficient signal for it to be ready to head to the War Zone. In a matter of few seconds, mustering all its might, the elephant ascended and leapt its way up to the ground above the pit.

This story got me pondering about its essence. The elephant which could not step up for its own life did it when it felt summoned for duty and wanted to be there for King! How did the scenario shift for good! What limited its strength in the first instance when it was trying desperately, anxiously and, amplified it in the latter situation?

The strength to look beyond the prevailing difficulty fades in the face of a challenge. When an unprecedented situation knocks, a person feels shackled; he is inclined to feel less resourceful to step up to its demands. He feels fearful, low on perspective, competency & confidence.

Parallels to the story of the elephant, are the stories we hear, of a normal human being who fights his way through the house on fire to save his child. The real stories of resilience and toughness that normal people exhibit in adversities make us raise our eyebrows. There must be something that brings that shift.

Cultivating a deeper sense of Purpose, feeling connected to the Purpose and hence responsibility towards it instils a sense of resourcefulness, drive to bring out our best, tap into our full competency, and augments the relevance of our contribution to the greater goal. The subjective fear, appraising the situation as one to be avoided and be done away with, then, gets replaced with confidence to see the adversity as a manageable challenge and spurs courage to overcome it. It clears the emotional fog about the perception of our coping skills, opens up alternative ways to problem-solve, and brings out-of-the-box ideas to reach the end purpose. It is known that some people even come out stronger than before. Some turn pain into purpose.

Is this helpful as an exception and not a rule? Perhaps not. Can it be applied to regular life situations that are challenging? Perhaps Yes. Could it be used as an anchor to see progress when we feel crippled in physical abilities? Perhaps as an anchor to steer us from ‘I can’t do anything, I am a vegetable’ to ‘I can do something relevant’. It is an insight that carving a bigger purpose and intentionally connecting with it, helps us unravel our competency, fosters creativity in dealing with problems, builds our focus, strengthens our resolve to be persistent, and have a breakthrough in coming out of challenging situations. Applying this insight could be a golden ticket to access our resilience.

It can be aptly said that when we associate ourselves with a meaningful purpose that could make an impact on our family’s well-being, on our clients, on our employees, on our Organizations, on our interest groups, or our community, it transforms into personal values. Conversely, when the Organization, families, society recognize the significance of every person that makes it and demonstrate a value of inclusivity, the individual’s potential can be harnessed and optimized.

Whatever is a win-win deserves a thought, isn’t it!