The Biggest Walls are in the Mind

© 2002 Boaz Rauchwerger

It was shortly after 1 a.m. on that August 13th night when thousands of militiamen formed a human chain to close the border. There was no warning. The barbed wire started going up at dawn. A wall of cinder blocks replaced it within a few days.

That was it - the 1961 division of Berlin, Germany. The city was severed as if a huge knife had sliced right through it.

For the next 28 years, Berliners on both sides had to live with the Wall. The East German dictatorship did everything it could to prevent its people from fleeing.

The completed wall stretched over 101 miles. Some 14,000 heavily armed guards watched over it. It was fortified with alarms, barbed wire, concrete, attack dogs, pipes, trenches and mines. The guards would shoot to kill, which they often did.

But as freedom-loving people have done throughout history, many East Berliners made valiant efforts to escape. They showed incredible human ingenuity and courage in their efforts.

Take Kurt Meyer, for example. He was a powerful swimmer and a gifted mechanic. He modified a small bicycle motor so it would run underwater. On a moonless night, Kurt donned a wetsuit and, using an air tube, he powered himself through the Baltic Sea to Denmark.

Then there was the group of eleven adults and children that was determined to get to freedom. They escaped through a tunnel from an empty shop in East Berlin to the basement of a restaurant in West Berlin.

People devised ingenious compartments in cars in order to deceive the border guards. They also hid inside suitcases and in furniture.

Then there were two families that joined forces and built a 91-foot-high hot air balloon to fly over the Wall. There were eight passengers, with the youngest 2, in the gondola the night they escaped. A climb to 8,500 feet successfully evaded the searchlights of the guards.

It was in November of 1989, when East Germany gave in to pressure from both Mikhail Gorbachev of Russia and its own citizens, that the Berlin Wall came down. On November 10th of that year, the sound of bulldozers replaced rifle fire as they began to knock down portions of the Wall to open crossings between East and West.

In the final analysis, about 24,000 East Germans had escaped during the 28 -year existence of the Wall. Hundreds of the escapees were border guards. In their efforts, 112 of the escapees were wounded, 74 were killed and 3,100 were captured by guards and imprisoned.

I share with you the story of the Berlin Wall because many people have built even more formidable barriers – in their minds! Negative self-talk leads to negative barriers that can lead to mental paralysis.

Here’s how a mental wall is built – brick by brick, thought by thought… “I can’t do that. No one is interested in my ideas. Things never work out for me.”

An experiment was conducted with a bunch of fleas in a jar. Tiny holes, none big enough for any of the fleas to escape, were made in the lid. The fleas would fly to the top, run into the lid, and fall back down. They kept doing that over and over.

After a few days, the lid was taken off. Amazingly, the fleas would fly up to where the lid used to be and stop. They had successfully built a mental wall that is like a glass ceiling.

Similar experiments have been conducted with circus elephants. When they’re young, heavy chains anchor the elephant to a metal post in the ground. As the elephant moves away, it learns it can only move so far until it reaches the end of the chain.

Eventually the chain is replaced with a rope that, if it wanted to, the elephant could tear. However, it doesn’t. A mental wall has been successfully built.

If you find that you have built a seemingly impenetrable mental wall, which stands between you and the future you desire, start tearing it down. Start chipping small pieces at first. “Maybe I could create a great relationship. Maybe I could go back to school. Maybe I could get a promotion. Maybe I could start a business of my own. Maybe I could live the lifestyle I’ve dreamt about.”

Substituting the word “maybe” for the word “can’t” is a good way to start tearing down a mental wall.

Isn’t it time that you took a hard look at any mental walls you’ve constructed in your mind? Isn’t it time you finally escaped to freedom? Go ahead! Make a run for it! I believe you have the human ingenuity and courage to get to the other side!

A Daily Freedom Affirmation

I am declaring my freedom today and creating the life I desire!