一代魔術大師胡汀尼有一手絕活，他能在極短的時間內打開無論多麼複雜的鎖，從未失手。他曾為自己定下一個富有挑戰性的目標：要在60分鐘之內，從任何鎖中掙脫出來，條件是讓他穿著特製的衣服進去，並且不能有人在旁邊觀看。

有一個英國小鎮的居民，決定向偉大的胡汀尼挑戰，有意給他難堪。他們特別打製了一個堅固的鐵牢，配上把看上去非常複雜的鎖，請胡汀尼來看看能否從這裏出去。

胡汀尼接受了這個挑戰。他穿上特製的衣服，走進鐵牢中，牢門噹啷一聲關了起來，大家遵守規則轉過身去。

30分鐘過去了，胡汀尼專注地工作著。一個小時過去了，胡汀尼頭上開始冒汗。兩個小時過去了，胡汀尼始終聽不到期待中的鎖簧彈開的聲音。他精疲力盡地將身體靠在門上坐下來，結果牢門卻順勢而開──原來，牢門根本沒有上鎖，那把看似很厲害的鎖只是個樣子。

門沒有上鎖，自然也就無法開鎖，但胡汀尼心中的門卻上了鎖。大師的失敗在於，他太專注這把具有象徵意義的鎖了，他的目標在不知不覺中從“逃生”轉換成了“開鎖”；況且，他先入為主的概念告訴他：只要是鎖，就一定是鎖上的。

原來，牢門根本就沒有上鎖！而這個「逃生專家」，竟然被一把根本沒有鎖上的鎖難倒了！

其實，人生中許多障礙和限制，都是我們自己造成的。本來很簡單的一件事，就因為我們先在心中設置了障礙，才會複雜起來，並限制了發展。』

http://mind-libur.blogspot.com/2012/06/blog-post_16.html

The Lock in Your Heart

This post is also published on http://loveneverending.com/the-lock-in-your-heart/

愛永不止息loveneverending.

Harry Houdini had a very special talent: he could open any complicated lock. He boasted that he could get himself out of any confinement within 60 minutes, and he never failed. That is, until, legend has it, a man in a small suburban city decided to challenge Houdini, wanting to embarrass him. A special-made box was built, with an extremely complicated lock and especially strong steel designed to trap Houdini. He took on this challenge, with everyone agreeing to the conditions he usually worked under: he could wear his own clothes, and no one could watch him.

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Once he stepped in, the door was shut tight. Everyone’s back was turned toward the box. Thirty minutes later, a very focused Houdini was still trying to unlock the box. One hour later, he started to sweat. Two hours later, he still did not hear the little “tick” sound that opening a lock would produce. He was so exhausted that he leaned against the door and sat down. All of a sudden, the door opened.

The door was never locked. The incredibly intricate lock was really just a diversion.

You cannot unlock an unlocked door. Thus, there would have been no way for Houdini to hear the “tick” sound. But to Houdini, his heart was locked. His failure was a result of his concentration on the symbolic lock. His goal changed from surviving into just opening the lock. His goal in mind had been so set in stone; he completely ignored that it might not even have been locked. Houdini teaches us that oftentimes, we are so focused and set on our goals that we ignore the most basic approaches to accomplish them. Instead, we tend to overcomplicate things when they are really quite simple.

Note:

The post is translated from Chinese article-

http://mind-libur.blogspot.com/2012/06/blog-post_16.html