raising your little elephant

Forword

This book is not about elephants or child rearing. This book is about a revolutionary idea. A person may spend their whole life searching for guidance on how to survive in a world that is increasingly self-centered. Ethics and morality must often take a backseat to what society refers to as progress. We will often find ourselves being pressed into someone else's concept of the perfect mold.

Men often want others to be more like them. Women likewise want to take on the challenge of fixing someone else whom they see as broken. We always seem to want to play the superhero of our story with someone in our own personal sphere of influence cast as the helpless victim who needs to be rescued from the proverbial railroad tracks. Although our goal often appears to be one of altruism, our desire to separate ourselves from those in need places the hero of the story above everyone else. This isolates this superstar from all the poor unfortunate souls down on the earth below.

These are great concepts for a story in a book or a movie designed to catch our attention. These concepts work well for politicians, film producers, authors, and self-improvement gurus. The belief that I am important and can change the world can raise us up and make us feel amazing. Being filled with a sense of pride and self-respect feels wonderful, but in order to be a savior one requires someone to save. This dynamic creates a potential problem though. If these two parts are necessary to feel whole it means one person will always feel down in order for the other person to feel up.

This topic is very important in the world today because the need to experience these two sides of the same coin creates the unfortunate division of a 'heads I win, tails you lose' mentality. It also means we will need a very significant third player in this performance. Without this person our low-end victim on the railroad tracks might blame the hero for their predicament. Who is this critical third party? You probably guessed it. The villain. Without the bad guy the up and down will not have someone to mutually oppose in this situation. Everyday life experiences will often present us with someone who can be cast as the villain, so there is usually no problem with role assigning. However, what happens if there is no specific scoundrel in black apparel with top hat and cape? In this case a scapegoat must be manufactured.
This is where things get complicated because this will reveal that our hero is no longer who we thought he was. He is actually the villain of the story who just wants to feed his ego. He wants to put on a good show, so his scapegoat must be destroyed, and his other victim must be rescued. The stage is now set for a great performance that will draw the crowds and be a source of entertainment for children of all ages. Real life is not like the movies, but we can't seem to help repeating these patterns in our own personal lives.

As you turn the page, we are going to embark on a journey to discover the true elephant in the room, as the saying goes. When you see it, you will never be the same, and you will start to see others in ways you may never have imagined possible.