Bug Yourself: Take Advantage of Help You Receive

We all have been this bug, and all of us have been in a position to kill that bug sitting on the wall or the floor.

Personally, I've never liked the idea of killing anything, including bugs. (Currently, I'm not a vegetarian, which makes me a HUGE hypocrite, but that is a topic for another area.) So I decided to save this bug.

Accepting Help

When we're in trouble, most of us wish we could just get a little break. Might I even use the word, "help?"

Many people expect help, and these people are not the target of my post, but most of us wish that we could have some help, and, of course, we'd take advantage of it if we got it. Right?

Why did I mention anything about bugs?

I was in the shower this morning, and a bug dropped into the tub and started to drown. I scooped up the bug, and I placed it onto a surface where it would not be underwater. I put it on the rim of the tub. It's an older tub; so it has plenty of flat space, especially for a small bug.

So what does this bug do? It tries to climb up the shower wall, and it falls into the tub and starts to drown, again.

Seeing this, I scoop up the bug--once more--and place it on the ledge--on the side, not the back this time.

What does the bug do? It crawls to the previous area and tries climbing up that same wall.

Sure enough, it falls into the shower, again, and it starts to drown.

I scoop it and put it on the floor beside the shower.

Thinking that I solved that bug's problem, I turned my back and washed myself.

A few minutes later, guess who I see, again? Guess where I see that doggone little bug?

At this point the bug actually floated into the part of the shower where the water is hitting--hard.

I scooped up the bug, and I saved it's life, but now it's going to be cripple for the rest of its life. I'm not a bug doctor, but I'm pretty sure that this bug's life will never be the same.

What does this have to do with me or investing?

We can all read this story about the bug and see how foolish it was. Of course, we'd NEVER do that.

...but have we ever done that? Are we doing it, today?

I got two lessons from this.

1. There are a lot of scams, especially having to do with investing. Almost all of us know this, but no matter how many times we see this, most of us are, at least, somewhat tempted by the next guru that promises to help us.

2. Some "experts" really are experts, and they are the giant human trying to help us tiny little bugs. When they are giving good advice, are we really taking it? More importantly, are we really APPLYING it?

It's one thing to find good help. It's a whole other level to take that help and make it good for us.

When we find it, do we keep trying to climb that wet shower wall, only to fall into a big pool of deep water? How many times can we fall into that deep pool of water and hope that someone with more power than us comes to save us from ourselves?

Just as importantly, do we even recognize help when it comes our way? If someone saved us, would we really know it?