In my late twenties, my wife and I were taking some classes about investing in real estate. They told a story of how when you put one crab in a bucket, it could climb out on its own. But if you put more than one crab in the bucket, they would pull each other down if they attempted to climb out.
They were referring to people in your life close to you, mainly family, who will try to drag you down when you try something new. Your family members might tear you down, say what you are doing is too risky, or claim it’s a scam. But in essence, they were the crab that was keeping you down.
Hearing that for the first time was mind-blowing, though. To think that people that care about you would try to keep you down because of their fears or limitations.
Naturally, we started to point out these “crabs” in our lives and refrain from telling them about our exciting ventures! Better to keep it in than to be shot down.
Being a crab was a negative thing in my mind.
But lately, I’ve been thinking it’s the opposite.
Think about it. Say your uncle scoffs at your plan to start a food truck because you failed biology. Imagine having an angry customer on said food truck. You can’t go to your room and cry because your feelers were hurt. If you aren’t able to take a little rejection from someone you know loves you and feels like they are looking after your best interest, then you will shrivel under the wrath of that irate stranger.
It’s like a rocket going to space. It uses most of its fuel to climb out of the atmosphere. But once it has broken the Earth’s orbit, it glides with ease.
Like if you handle this, you can handle anything!
The people you love give you tough love, and it can only make you stronger.
