Break out of your shell

Last week when I was in a class, the lecturer deviated from what she was teaching (as usual) and started telling us stories of her childhood and how her family reared chickens in their house.

Then she told us something about chicken eggs; "The mother hen isn't the one that will crack the shell for the chicks to come out, they have to do it themselves from the inside and the only thing she may do is to help her chicks to completely come out of the shell. And anyone that can't break out of its shell and ends up getting external help, may likely not survive"

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That's interesting, I actually know the chicks are the ones that break out from their shells, but the part I didn't know was that if you help them to break the shell, they are not going to survive.

That observation can also be applied to life; you have got to be willing to break out of your shell if you want to succeed at something. In essence, you have to have that zeal to succeed, before seeking external help when you need it.

It's just like someone being possessed by an evil spirit, they have to be willing to break out of that union before even talking about an exorcism.

Or what about someone in an abusive marriage? They have to be the ones that will be willing to walk out of the marriage before they can be free. Even when you force them to a court to try and get a divorce, the judge asks them if they want a divorce, if they say no then the marriage still stands.

A lot of persons prefer to just remain in their shell and keep waiting for someone to bring them out of it and even when someone does bring them out, they end up going back to the shell because their mind is not ready to be free.

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Shells are present in everything in life, including our brain (brain shell 😉). What I mean is that most times we are stuck on a difficult task and after thinking very hard on how to crack the problem, we still don't see a way out.

But most times, when we do crack such a difficult problem, we get a huge feeling of satisfaction that can't be compared to when someone helps us out.

Haven't you noticed that the problems you figured out on your own tend to retain in your memory longer than when someone else helps you out? Pushing our brain to break out of its shell ensures that the knowledge of solving that problem survives longer in the brain.

I don't know about others but I tend to do better when I figure out how to do a task my way. It's when I can't seem to crack that problem that I now seek external help. But some people immediately ask for help when they are faced with challenges without even trying to figure it out on their own.

I usually don't like that attitude and it's a huge turn-off for me when I am tutoring someone and the first thing they do when they face a problem is to ask for my help; you will never learn very well if you continue that way.

I remember something funny that happened some weeks back when I was doing an assignment in school. A classmate was bugging me that I should do the assignment fast so he can copy it.

It's an easy assignment, so I agreed to let him copy mine when I m done. But he kept pestering me to hurry up so he can write, so I decided to just show him the page in the textbook with the answers to the assignment so he can just copy from there, but he refused!

He wants an easier way which is to copy directly from me. It seems he loves the shell he is in and he doesn't want to come out even after being offered help, so I just left him there and refused to give him my assignment.

When I see someone trying so hard to accomplish a difficult task, I will be more than willing to help. It shows commitment, dedication, and the zeal to succeed.

It's far better to break out from your shell, and yes it's going to require a lot of time and effort but it's worth it in the end and you will enjoy its benefits much longer.

Just like how a chick has a higher chance of surviving when it breaks its shell, you too have a better chance at success when you willingly come out of your shell.

Thanks for reading

Thursday November 6th, 2021