Resilience Lessons from a Crippled Spider

🌳Lessons from a Crippled Spider

The other night, I saw a tiny spider hobbling up my bathroom wall. Normally a spider has 8 legs, but this one was handicapped with only three on one side and two on the other. I realized that if it didn’t reach the ceiling to spin its web, it won't catch anything to eat.

Simple as that.

Losing nearly half of its limbs didn't deter it from fulfilling its survival instincts.

It occurred to me that despite its disabilities, this creature was less miserable than many people.

Like this spider, we often face disadvantages like lack of money, time, resources, skills, or even health that could hamper our progress. Sure, these are real facts. But unlike us humans who are often held back by judgment of our own deficiencies, a spider doesn’t think or care what you think of it - it just acts.

What matters is persevering regardless of what you might be missing at present to reach your goals. This lesson rings true among the most accomplished individuals I’ve met: the facts don’t matter for those committed to their goals. All of them needed to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to reach where they are today.

They're not feeling sorry for themselves about the multitude of problems life throws at them along the way. They're making steady progress towards their true calling regardless of their disadvantages. They know that if they don’t climb, they won’t be able to acquire something greater than anything instant gratification can offer - their truth and purpose. In fact, the mere act of trying and pursuing is fulfilling their hearts’ deepest desires.

This is an incredibly powerful way to live because it makes you nearly invincible. You’re winning the inner battle with yourself even as you’re striving to win externally. You can fall asleep every night knowing that you have done your best towards what you are supposed to do.

As for our little friend, it eventually made it to the top and began spinning its web. Looks like it'll live for another day.

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