Lobsters are soft squishy creates that house themselves within hard shells with rigid and spiky insides. As a lobster grows, its shell becomes constraining, even suffocating and painful.
Once the lobster becomes too uncomfortable: it hides from predators under a rock, jettisons its old shell, and fashions a new one. This process repeats throughout the lobster’s life.

We are all lobsters. The people we surround ourselves with is our shell. The habits we surround ourselves with is our shell. The thoughts and beliefs we surround ourselves with is our shell.

Like the lobster, as we grow, we often find that these shells are what constrain us. When the time comes, when it gets too constraining, we need to set the shell aside, and fashion ourselves a new one that makes more sense to the current state we are in.

One of the teachings of Yoda is, "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."

In the recent weeks, I have been setting aside my old shell and forming a new one. I have started putting my phone on airplane mode for large parts of the day. I have started to be more deliberate about what I eat so that it complements my work out routines. I have started writing a lot more which means that more and more of what I write stays in draft/unpublished mode as I'm exploring several new topics for my next book. I have started saying no to things a lot more.

We are constantly evolving. If our aim is to always do things the same way we do them today, we will not find room to add more things to our life after a while. This is the point where we stop exploring.

Just like you don't play a football game the same way irrespective of whether you are two goals up or two goals down, you ought to fashion yourself a new shell as per the context you are in.

This doesn't mean you have to pander to all the people around you. You don't have to lose your identity.

The lobster's identity is not in its shell.

Similarly, our identity is not in our friends, habits, thoughts and beliefs. These are things that we ought to change when they become too constraining.

When you don't tie your identity to these, then it is only you who defines how far you go. And not what religion or society you are born into, not your friends and acquaintances.

Take responsibility.