Remember the commercial that aired about 10 years ago for a chain of alcohol treatment centers? It showed a real elephant crashing around a tiny living room. The gist of the message was that having an alcoholic in the family was like having an elephant in the house.

Everyone talks around the elephant, thinks that everyone else knows about the elephant and hopes that someone else will do something about it.

While elephants are magnificent creatures, they just don’t belong in a house meant for humans. Until and unless someone acknowledges it, that elephant is in charge. Keep ignoring it and it will do what any sensible multi-ton creature will do inside a home: ultimately destroy it. Besides, it takes a lot of energy to ignore an elephant. It's energy is generally spent in a variety of unhealthy ways, like overeating or drinking, or 
chronically over-booking itself to the point of exhaustion. 

Do you have an elephant in your life? 
Is it a personal foundation issue like addiction? 
Are you letting you or your partner's anger destroy your relationship (or your life)? 
Maybe it's in your business; an employee who’s stealing or chronically underperforming? Is your lack of passion for work you once loved bringing down your company future? 
Family businesses can house a lot of elephants - they just tend to accumulate over the generations.

Life coach Martha Beck has a way of helping her clients find their "hidden" elephants by having them ask a couple of simple questions:

What do I almost know?
What do I almost feel?
What would I do if it weren't forbidden?
What am I tired of hiding from myself?
What really happened, though I act as if it never did?
What is it that my family and I all know but no one ever talks about?

It takes courage to go elephant hunting. You might want to bring along a trusted friend or two. Some elephants require the help of a professional guide to track down and tame. It can be a scary process, but I guarantee it's not as dangerous as letting them run loose in the house. Set these elephants free where they belong.