A villager was once taking his three donkeys to sell them at the market. Walking by a river, he felt a strong urge to take a dip. He took out two ropes and tied two of his donkeys to a nearby tree. He then wondered how he could tie the third one. Just then he saw a sage sitting on the river bank. The villager went up to him and asked him if he could lend a rope. The sage said he did not have a rope and added, “Just pretend to tie up the third donkey. He will stay put.”
The villager did as the sage asked him to. When he came back after a bath, he was surprised to see the third donkey standing at the exact spot where he had pretended to tie him up. He untied the other two donkeys. They started moving but the third one was rooted to his spot. He patted him asking him to move but he didn’t move an inch. The villager went up to the sage and told him that the donkey refused to move. The sage said, “How will he move if you don’t untie him?”
The villager said, “But I never tied him up.”
The sage smiled and said. “Yes. But does the donkey know that?’
The villager went up to the donkey and pretended to untie the imaginary rope around his neck. Now when he patted the donkey on his back, he started walking.
Moral: We are all tied up by imaginary ropes. See what is limiting you and discover your true potential.