Some people suffer from the dreadful,


 horrible, destructive, unpromising, doomed 


crabs-in-a-barrel syndrome. 


They don't want others to succeed. When


 they notice another climbing, they rush 


to restrain them.


Many people have an unhealthy desire 


to win at any cost. They measure their 


own value by comparing themselves to 


others.

People who continuously compare themselves


 to others may experience debilitating 


emotions of inadequacy.


When rivalry is driven by a need for 


attention and affirmation from others, it stems 


from a place of insecurity, defenselessness,


 self-consciousness, fear, timidity, and


 self-doubt.


We don't want to fall into a ferociously cruel


 spiral of self-loathing, fear, self-doubt, 


mousiness, inhibition, and skepticism because


 it seemed impossible to surpass our previous


 triumphs.



When it comes to insulting and putting 


people down, competition may become


 even more unhealthy. It's one thing to be 


driven by self-interest; it's quite another to 


purposefully undermine the performance


 of others.



 Animosity, hatred, malice, and hostile


 energy not only harms others, but also eats 


away at the soul of the person parceling it out.

Unhealthy competition places a distorted 


and twisted emphasis on the outcome rather


 than on the process or journey involved in 


getting there. When the outcome becomes 


the only focus, it might foster the notion that


 one must do "Whatever it takes" to achieve. 


This mindset can lead to a variety of unwise


 judgments and unethical activities.



When we focus on beating our best... and 


become the best version of ourselves... it is


lovely thing. When we compete with others, 


we are essentially following rules rather than


 making our own.



Let us not be drawn to someone else's 


successes instead of moving forward in a


 direction that is uniquely ours to shape. 



When we compete against another person, 


we allow their values to dictate our goals 


and our perspective of our own 


performance.



Self-competition should be 

what drives us forward!


Those who are most concerned about the


 success of others generally battle with inner


 doubts about their own ability and experience


 emotions of inadequacy and poor self-worth


 as others pursue their greater calling. They 


squander time holding each other down, not 


recognizing that we all stay down together.

Crab mentality entails tearing down anyone 


who has achieved or is likely to attain more 


success than others. This behavior is named 


after how crabs race to escape a boiling pot by 


clambering on top of one another.


Crab mentality comes in and destroys other 


crabs to the detriment of the entire community. 


Put a group of crabs in a barrel... when one 


approaches the edge of the barrel, nearing his 


escape, the others will drag him back into the 


barrel.


If you are striving to improve 


yourself, you may find yourself 


in a similar scenario.

For example, you truly want to attain a goal,


 but every time you try to rise, there are a 


few who masquerade themselves as your 


friends or loved ones and will drag you back


 down... and hold you down. The closer you


 come to freedom... the more your attempts are 


sabotaged.


Envy is a side effect of a lack of identity.


What is there to covet if one knows who they 


are and is certain of their ascension?


In general, we are less concerned with the


 success of others if we are attaining success


 of our own.

People tend to be more emotionally invested in


 comparing themselves to family and friends than 


they are in comparing themselves to strangers.

Sharing our dreams with someone who has 


a different agenda or who does not have our 


best interests in mind might be harmful. 


Crabs can undermine our efforts if we 


provide them with too much information.

Often this is applied to people in an impoverished


 community where one person is starting to get ahead. 


The collective community becomes jealous or filled 


with a sense of self-loathing, so they find a way to pull 


that person back down to the community's level.


The crabs will pull down any crab 


that starts to climb out of the barrel!

All of the struggling crabs could easily escape 


from the barrel, but instead they relentlessly grab 


and pull others down in the pot. They spend far too 


much time and energy in a futile competition which 


prevents any of them from escaping to freedom, and


 in the process they are collectively subjected to


suffocation and death.



When people engage in this kind of behavior...


it can pretty much guarantee our communal demise.

Sometimes even family members will become 


jealous and try to derail or sidetrack our efforts


by attempting to destroy our spirit.



Regardless of the obstacles that come against us...


we can make it.


We must love our enemies, and bless the ones 


who curse us, and do what is beautiful to the ones


 who hate us, and pray for those who persecute and


speak evil about us.

Those closest to us may be

      crabs in disguise.

Those closest to you may not be as happy with your

 progress as you would like to think they are.

 

Just as a flower does not belittle or compete with the 

flower next to it, but rather it follows the movement

 of the sun so it can grow and bloom. We should also 

be doing the same. It is vitally important to make sure 

that we focus on growing and blooming, and staying

 in our own lane-- fully committed to doing the work 

we were created to do.

 

 

People who have a crab mentality

are always trying to bring their opponent down.

Those who make every attempt to suppress,

oppress, and discourage others are being derailed

 and/or sidetracked from achieving their true calling. 

They are making, absolutely, no progress for themselves.

They exhaust themselves with the full-time duty of holding

 others downThey're obsessed with the idea that someone

 else is going to steal their thunder...

not good.

You know that you don't belong in a barrel.

Keep climbing out of the barrel regardless of all 

the crab claws that may be snapping at you.

Trust...

there are kindred souls outside of the bucket

who will take pleasure in pulling you up

and over to freedom.

When we allow or assist one to climb out of the barrel,

we can give them the ability to reach back in

and pull others out, too.

Most people want to be successful by earning 

money and fame. Some have achieved almost

 everything in life, but still find themselves 

feeling voids, emptiness and unfulfillment. Some 

lives are full of external reward, but their lives lack 

internal reward.

Life is a journey. What is the fun reaching a 

destination if you do not enjoy journey at all. 

We all have at least one thing that we just love

 doing. It may be sewing or playing a sport. 

It may be dancing, singing, cooking, decorating, 

raising a family, teaching, preaching, working on cars,

 helping people, etc. Maybe you draw and write 

just because you love to do it. We do these things even

if they do not bring us any income/external rewards.

We should never stop doing these things just because

 it will not get us anywhere professionally. 

Let us embrace what we do. Keep doing what 

makes our hearts smile, as inner joy is a 

tremendous reward.

When we help others, our lives seem to have 

meaning and purpose. When we give our hearts 

in kindness and love, we get the riches of the 

universe, which is far more rewarding than material 

possessions. When we are generous with others, our 

lives feel fruitful and rich with possibility. When we 

can inspire others to trust God, believe in the 

impossible, take the leap of faith, and become the

best version of themselves-- we experience, 

internally, the missing link-- joy-- that inner

 fulfillment. Our dream or our goal should be 

something that inspires us within. Then life will be 

an amazing and fulfilling journey!

Let us do what we were designed to do, and 

let God's grace do what it does.

May we always, build others up, bear with 

the blunders of those who are spiritually 

weak--and not think of ourselves more highly

 than we ought. 

May we keep God in the forefront and

commit our way to Him.




 

 

 carolecgood@carolecgood.com

                                                                                                                                      

  www.carolecgood.com

    

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