Crab People

J.C. Kendall's words are powerful and inspirational. What a great early morning read! 🙂

Thanks +Laurie M for the share and +J.C. Kendall for the incredible post!

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“Crab-People” – an explanation…

Since I’ve been getting a number PM’s about this term, which I referenced recently, I thought it might be a good idea to explain it in depth.
 
When I was a boy, growing up near the Chesapeake Bay in the late 60s, my dad and I could pick up crabs right along the shoreline until we had a full bucket for that evenings dinner.

One day, we caught so many crabs, that some of the crabs were near the top of the bucket, and it looked like an easy hop out of the bucket to avoid my mother’s steamer pot. 

Yet, none of the crabs could escape. 

For reasons I can’t explain, the crabs would grab hold of one another, and prevent any other crabs from escaping. With a bit of cooperation, 4-5 crabs could have easily escaped, but none could, and all of them ended up getting cooked, with no effort required on our part to keep them captive. 

Human beings have this tendency as well, to not want others to escape their negative surroundings. I grew up under the constant school yard accusation that getting good grades in school was tantamount to “acting white”.  I also was not allowed to speak with any slang. My grandma said that perfect speaking, is where nobody can tell your color or race over the phone, and she would accept nothing less from myself or any of her grandkids. 

When you leave negative surroundings for a better place, regardless of race, there will be people who will approach you with phrases like “don’t forget where you came from” or “so, do you think you are better than us?” and other words that display their discomfort with your achievements, because you represent a mirror looking back at their lack of same. 

These days, you often see once poor people who become wealthy walking around with a constant “posse” of friends and hanger’s on, as if this human-cloud was somehow responsible for the success of the individual in question.  

What has actually occurred is that the person has been made to feel guilty for having succeeded, and the guilt assuaged by sharing the benefits of that success with others happy to receive, having given nothing but prior association. 

The former rapper M.C.Hammer speaks often (now that he is flat-broke) about how once he became wealthy,  practically every person he knew from Oakland, CA approached him for either a job or a handout. He spent millions buying cars, plane tickets and hotel rooms for more than 50 people who traveled with him for years, until he ran out of money, and had to sell his $30M mansion just to pay his bills. 

Separating yourself from these types of people, these “Crab-People", is essential for lasting personal success. It might mean you spend time with few friends, and it might even cost you family and other persons once close to you.

The people who truly love you would only wish to help you succeed, and not try to live from your success via a guilt trip or a racial identity crisis, meant to keep you from rising above your circumstances, or prevent others from feeling bad for not achieving as much as you. 

Each and every one who reads this knows a few Crab-People in their own lives. They can be siblings, or even parents, but who they are does not matter. If you want to be successful and stay successful, you must rid these people from your life before they suck it out of you.

With whom you share the fruits of your successful labor, should always remain YOUR choice.  So hop out of that crab bucket, and be all you can be.

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