If you never heard about this theory, give me a minute to describe it to you & you will realize that CRABS are all around us...

REAL CRAB BARREL

This theory got its name from the actual behavior of crabs. If you gonna put few crabs into a barrel then you will witness a very interesting & fascinating thing...

^Source

...but before delving into that fascinating thing, let me tell you quick story...

See when I started learning magic tricks, it was a very fun hobby to have. People seemed to enjoy my tricks. Finally was able to get the attention of girls (yaaay). Basically, those were fun times...

But after few years of doing it here and there, I decided to do it for a living.

At that time I had a good job, earning a nice salary, but I said f*ck it & just quit it without telling anyone. And when I finally decided to sit my family down and say, "Yeah, by the way, that job I had. I quit."

(feeling quite funny as I am remembering it now)

So basically when I did it and said, I will do magic... Can you guess?? IT WAS A BIG NO NO NO from my family. They were against it. They didn't believe it's a normal job. They were telling me these different reasons why it will not work and basically, my uncle till this day doesn't understand why I quit my stable job.

Luckily I didn't listen, I mean, I already quit that job. Doh. But the thing that confused me about this was that older people in my family, people I kind of looked up to, were acting irrationally.

• Why would they try to hinder me from doing what I want?
• Why are you telling me it's not a normal job if there are many real-life examples when people earn money by doing magic?
• Why THE FUCK they were making some excuses instead of just simply allowing me to try??? DFAQ?

So, as you can see, even tho at that time I made my decision, I was a bit confused by my family's reaction...

---

And here we come back to...

CRAB IN A BUCKET THEORY

See, one crab, if there are no other crabs in a barrel, will easily climb out of that barrel. BUT, if you put the same crab in a barrel with few other crabs, it will become literally impossible or very very difficult for him to climb out....because other crabs are obstructing him (not letting him to do it)!

Other crabs collectively are grabbing runner not letting him get away. Making him "imprisoned" even further, like them, in a barrel.

^Source

Why did I decide to write about this topic? Because we can witness same behavioral patterns in human relationships. (I bet that you as a Steemit user have experienced it yourself)

See, we live in a society of constant competition. Everyone around wants a better car, better women/man, more success, and power. And when a person has these things, it means that he is a person with higher status.

Here comes the punchline...have you ever noticed that more successful people also have more "trash" thrown towards them in form of different criticism & lashing? Hmmmm?

But see, it doesn't only happen to already successful people, it happens to anyone who is trying to move forward in life or who are trying something new when people around them prefer remaining the same.

Have you found noticed that it will take you a lot of time to find someone who will authentically gonna be happy for someones else success. Especially if this successful person is much better than other. Usually, you will see that other people will try to lower the success of other people and make it seem like nothing. Again, that's why you can so often hear gossip and shit-talking about famous people.

^Source

IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Would you say that this kind of behavior is reasonable for society?

Of course, it's not, because it slows down progress. If someone more successful emerges the rest of society is slowing him down. In some way, you could say, with this behavior society is trying to achieve mediocrity.

Is this kind of behavior reasonable for specific individuals? If a person lives mediocre life without anything special going on for him, then this kind of behavior and mentality is protecting his psyche and feelings. In that way, he deceives himself that his life is all right. On the other hand, if a person has resources and potential to move forward, with this crab mentality he slows down himself.

In general, a person with stronger personality and more resources will have the least crab in bucket behavior. Compared to a person who doesn't represent anything of himself, has a mediocre life, will be much more prone to criticize and lash at other people. A strong person will help you to become better, or at least will not obstruct you. Weaker tho will in most cases will obstruct your growth.

^Source

In Conclusion Here Are Some Actionable Ideas:

• You gotta become even stronger so you can get out of crab bucket, even if 10 people are pulling you back.
• You gotta search for friends with a strong personality, not weak. Join communities that will support you! Steemit? Hmm...
• Always strive to become better, instead of looking for excuses.
• Don't talk much about your growth and goals, because not a lot of people will honestly support you.
• And lastly, help other people yourself instead of obstructing them to move forward in life. That will motivate you to grow.

wuabalaba dub dub