The Monkey Trap
Before long a monkey comes by, sees the banana, reaches his hand into the bottle, and grabs it. But then, the monkey discovers that he can't get his hand out of the bottle while holding onto the banana. There is loud chattering and squealing as the person who set the trap walks up to the monkey and places a burlap sack over him. In the darkness the monkey releases the banana and is captured.
The monkey could, of course, let go of the banana and run before getting caught. Some do. But most of the monkeys hang on to the banana until the sack goes over their head. Why? Because the banana has value to the monkey and the monkey is unwilling to let go of that value. People do the same thing.
The People Trap
People get trapped by their beliefs in the same way monkeys get trapped by bananas.
If we believe life to be bad, we will expect bad things to happen, and they will. Beliefs are like filters. Beliefs allow what we expect, and eliminate what we don't expect. We create our own reality with our beliefs. The famous saying "you create what you fear the most" is another aspect of this trap. When we fear something, we cause it to happen, to justify the correctness of our belief. That is why understanding ourselves and being aware of our beliefs are so important. We are not our beliefs. We can be in control of our beliefs and of our destiny at all times, whether we know it or not.
Changing Your World
To change your world, change yourself, the world will follow you. It has no meaning until you give it meaning. What you believe about the world is reflected back to you as reality. You can change it any time you wish. Is the world bad because you see no good in it? Yes! Is the world good because you see no bad in it? Yes, again! What you see is what you get!
Now, it is possible to see beyond good and bad; happy and sad; real and fad. There you will find peace of mind. There you will find the self knowledge you seek. There you will find freedom. But, you have to let go of your banana to get there.
Let Go of Your Banana
Kahlil Gibran wrote: "Forgetfulness is a form of freedom." How many times have you heard the old adage "Forgive and Forget." The path to freedom flows through forgiveness to a nonjudgmental attitude to unconditional love. All will walk that path sooner or later.
Forgiveness releases the hate and the depression. If you say right now: "I forgive you for all the hurts I feel, and I forgive myself for feeling them", three times with meaning, you would notice you felt better for doing it. Forgiveness is the key to personal freedom. It unlocks the hurt and releases the pain.
If you can forgive, then you can be free. Forgiveness clears the past and the mind. Don't look back with anger. Look forward with joy. You will then be able to make better choices by letting go of your banana.
If you want to be happy and free and successful, let go of your banana.
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