Inspirational story shares importance of breaking free from past circumstances

Day to day, without energy and barely any drive to go any longer, the journey of life pushes people into uncomfortable and tough situations. The stress of doing things right, and performing to the best of our abilities at home, school, athletics and church are draining.

Leaving an open ear to the people’s experiences and listening to their situations can either encourage or make ourselves seem less than. Most of the time people take on more than they can handle, consequently effecting the people around them in a negative way. 

The purpose of inspiration is more than just a feel good story; it’s a reaction and decisions after its hearing. To inspire is an act and to cause change in a positive way, or make an effort to better yourself and or affect other people.

Born in Mexico City, Monica Garza faced many hardships as a child to help make money for her family. With the help of her sisters and brothers, my mom found her way to America at 14. For her, the American dream became closer to a reality as time went on.

With English not being her first language, she learned from watching TV, listening to the radio, reading and talking to her peers. Growing up in Mexico City with different pronunciations than some of the other smaller Mexican provinces, she even found it hard to speak to those from the same country as herself. Over time she improved and proved to the people who thought she was wasting her time that hard work pays off.

Spending most her time inside of a library reading about five books a week, she learned English and what words meant. She would go get a dictionary and look up the words, then reread the book to understand what she was reading.

“No friends, new culture, not being able to speak the same language,” Garza said. “Since I was little I really loved reading and I think that’s what really helped me a lot learn English faster. I use to go to the library and every day I use to get a book out.”

Tutoring her peers in math or Spanish, Garza received help in her English classes. If she pronounced words incorrectly, they would correct her and help where she needed it.

Through spending her time with only English speaking students, Garza learned English faster.

“I’m really good at math,” Garza said. “So my friends who only spoke English helped me with my English classes and I use to help them with math, because math is universal whatever language you speak it’s the same thing with the same formulas.”

Kyler Garza interviews his mom, Monica Garza, on her experience on coming to America at 14 years old in the following podcast.

Published on Wealthy Gorilla as one of the most inspirational stories, “The Elephant Rope” contrasts Garza’s story of breaking free from her circumstances. In Garza’s case, she chose not to let her struggles overcome her and instead persevered through past experiences.

Everyone has a story worth telling, even if it seems less significant it makes a difference or encourages to inspire the people who take the time to listen. The smallest thing could give anyone an idea or the strength to continue the pursuit.

“The Elephant Rope” is about an elephant whose mentality was limited by physical restrictions at a young age. A rope was tied around its leg which limited its movement, so when it was older it didn’t think it could move with the rope around his leg even if it was strong enough.

A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains.

All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs.

As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all.

Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape.

The trainer replied,

“When they are very young and much smaller, we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

With the restrictions we place on ourselves to keep us from pursuing a dream, we often believe it is better to try and fail than not to try at all, rather than not know if it can become a reality.

Many minorities today who emigrate to the United States thrive and are determined. Others have a hard time fitting in, or speaking English. From my personal experience with my family who emigrated from Mexico, they continue to be held down by incapability or discouragement.

No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in achieving success.

From traveling to a new country, protesting for equality or the mentality of making the impossible possible, the stories people create for themselves take time, perseverance and a drive to continue even when all odds are against the dream.

In the following tweet, Todd Nesloney speaks on sharing an individual’s story and not walking away because of failure.

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When people ask me how I got to where I am I tell them….a lot of failure, closed doors, and me know when to work harder and when to walk away. #TellYourStory pic.twitter.com/9WhTdJXtq1

— Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd) March 3, 2020

Everyone has a story waiting for them, but many people are afraid of failure or not being accepted. We need to take a chance even when all odds are stacked against us.

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Kyler Garza can be reached via email.