Have you ever heard the analogy of the crabs in the bucket? It’s a great metaphor about how we can find ourselves being held back in life.

I remember right after I moved to Maryland, one of the neighborhood kids asked if my brother and I wanted to go crabbing. We eagerly agreed, having just moved from Montana where crabs were few and far between! 🙂 So, we waded out into the shallow waters of Chesapeake Bay with our nets. Sure enough, there were plenty of crabs for us to catch and we began filling up the bucket with our catch.

As we added more and more crabs, I noticed that one at a time they would try to crawl over the others and up to the lip of the bucket in an effort to escape. However, as soon as one made it to the top, another would pull it down. I thought surely one would escape, but they never did. Every time one came close, the others would drag it back down so that none could reach freedom.

Does that sound familiar? How many of you can remember a time when you were trying to better yourself and someone kept standing in your way, trying to pull you back to their level?

Maybe you were trying to improve your physical health and you were on the path to positive change when a loved one would slip you an extra Snickers or surprise you with a doughnut? Perhaps you can think of a time when you were saving your money and a friend encouraged you to splurge? Think about times you’ve tried to better yourself, in any area of your life, and someone kept pulling you back.

I know I’ve found myself in those situations, how about you? The saying misery loves company comes to mind.

What if, instead of being pulled back down, we turn around and reach out? What if we help pull others up, rather than pulling each other down? Imagine how different the world could be if we extended help to those who wanted to also get out of the bucket?!

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