021 A Shell Your Size
Hey Hermit Crab, you try one empty shell after another, and you leave behind the ones that are too big, because a heavy shell would only slow you down.
What are we carrying that is too big for us?
What are you carrying that is too big for you?
On a beach at low tide, a small crab without a shell of its own is shopping for a home. It climbs into one empty shell, then out. Into another. Out again.
It is looking for the one that fits.
What really happens
A hermit crab has a soft body and borrows empty snail shells to protect itself. As it grows, it must move to a bigger shell.
But it does not choose the biggest one it can find. A shell that is too heavy slows it down and wears it out. It looks for one that fits.
How we know: Hermit crab shell choice is well studied; crabs inspect shells carefully before moving in.
The turn
We often pick up shells that are too big for us: a loan, a role, a lifestyle, a promise, chosen to look impressive.
Then we spend our lives dragging it.
Three takeaways
- Bigger is not always better.
- Choose what fits who you are now.
- You can move to a bigger shell when you grow into it.
Choose the shell that lets you move.
A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.