When my sons were little, they enjoyed many summer vacations on the New Jersey
shore. One warm afternoon, they joined their cousins and aunts for an outing to catch
crabs for dinner. Tossing the live crabs into a bucket, the little children noticed that
despite frenzied attempts, the crabs never escaped the bucket even without a lid. You
see, it’s a common observation that if a single crab is put into a bucket
without a lid it can easily escape. But if this crab is put into the
same bucket with other crabs escape is impossible.

The fact is that when a crab attempts to make a climb for freedom the
other crabs frantically climb on top of each other, grabbing at the
escaping crab’s legs, pulling it right back down to the bottom of the
bucket. This seems silly but is true.

Who is inside and outside of your bucket?

Imagine you’re a crab in your bucket, valiantly trying to escape to bigger horizons of success and freedom. The other crabs are grabbing at your legs, pulling you down. Now imagine crabs outside your bucket who, despite all odds and the attempts by other crabs to sabotage their success, have each managed to escape. In fact, now empathizing with your struggle, they are earnestly working as a team to build a ladder to help you to freedom.

You manage to climb to the edge of your bucket and look at who and what is out there. Where is your support group?

Who are they? They are those who not only know frustration, pain and struggle but also the sweetness of victory. They are out-of-the-box thinkers and doers, instead of followers. They are those who will support you unconditionally. They want the best for you and encourage you to dream big dreams and think big thoughts. They are not intimidated by others’ success but instead feel uplifted by others’ accomplishments.

If you don’t currently have a helper in your life in the form of friend, relative, teacher, life coach or therapist, there are many gifted writers of self-help books. Inspiring films, Youtube videos and radio interviews are often free and contain unlimited sources of assistance. We are so blessed today to be surrounded by many healers who know the truth: that the more of us who are living
fulfilling lives, the better life is for us all.

Successful people tell us that they surround themselves with like minded people. They get energy from others who are positively working toward their own big goals and from those who have already achieved great success.

Look for and associate with people who believe in limitless possibilities
and boundless potential. Rejoicing in others’ accomplishments, they
are now unselfishly building a ladder for you to find and climb to your
success!

And once you’ve reached your greatness, remember to help build a
ladder to assist others’ climb to freedom!