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Purpose = Hope = Energy
Explained by Richter ’ s swimming rats experiment
In the 1950s , Curt Paul Richter , a Harvard graduate , did a series of experiments that tested how long rats could swim in a high-sided bucket of circulating water before drowning .
He took a bunch of rats and put them into a high-sided bucket of circulating water that they couldn ’ t escape from and timed how long it took for the rats to drown . It wasn ’ t long – an average of 15 minutes for the rats to give up , stop swimming , and drown .
He then repeated the experiment with a new group of rats and a new twist – in the second instance , he “ rescued ” the rats just after they had given up swimming , again , at around the 15 minute mark . He let them dry off ; he fed them some food , allowed them to recuperate . And then he threw them back in the bucket of water . The amazing result was that these rats were then able to swim for up to 60 hours before giving up and drowning . Yes , 60 hours . If a rat was temporarily saved , it would survive 240 times longer than if it was not temporarily saved .
Now the question was how could these rats swim so much longer the second time , especially just after swimming as long as possible to stay alive ? Dr . Richter concluded that the rats were able to swim longer because they were given energy through hope . The rats had a clear picture of what being saved looked like , so they kept swimming for it .
Similarly when we have defined goal or the purpose in our life , and we remain faithful to our vision , we become more energized and find hidden strength to persevere through hardships . The key is to positively visualize the end at the beginning . You don ’ t have to actually see the end ; you just have to envision it . Vision creates hope , or a feeling of expectancy . And hope creates energy .
WINSPIRE : Empowering youth | March , 2017