Help Yourself and the Universe Will Help You
Everyone gets stuck sometimes. Sometimes you feel stuck in a job, perhaps stuck in a relationship or even stuck in a particular place. Stuckness isn’t unique to one person, yet many of our responses to that stuckness determine our fate.
Consider the story of Hercules and the Wagoner. One day the Wagoner was travelling along a country lane. His horses fell into a rut and after a while struggling, they came to a complete standstill and suddenly he found himself stuck. They were stuck in deep mud. The more he whipped his horses the more he got stuck. So immediately he jumps off his cart and gets onto his all fours and he begs Hercules for help. Of course, Hercules, being the god that he is, boomed, “Put your shoulder to the wheel! And only then, after you’ve done your utmost to free yourself, can you even think of summoning for the help of the gods.”
On the advice of Hercules, the wagoner, knee-deep in mud, put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on his horses, with everything he had. After great effort, the wagon quickly becomes unstuck.
The power of self-help
Sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a situation in life, a challenge that seemingly causes some kind of paralysis. And we just want somebody to save us. We whip away at our problems without wanting to make the greater…
