[August 21, 2026] Take caution in your life and never use your limitations as an excuse to move forward in the world, ever. If you do, you’ll confuse yourself and you won’t know what you can actually do. You’re going to have a hard time doing things in a dangerous and unforgiving world; such is the real burden of being human. Throw away your crutches to be someone better.
Indeed, if you use your shortcomings as a way out, you will corrupt yourself morally, which you have, in some way, every right to do because of those things that hold you back. That is perfectly understandable under the circumstances. But it will make your situation far worse.
In the Biblical story of Moses, he is told to throw down his staff (the tool of his identity as a shepherd) and it becomes a snake. Then God tells him to pick it up by the tail (the dangerous end): Exodus 4:2-4 The act is one of surrendering what he leans on, what propped him up while tending his flock, what he used to fend off danger, so God can transform and use it. Because Moses obeyed and threw down his crutch, the staff that once guided sheep becomes something more and it will later part the Red Sea.
If you pay attention to the voice that calls you out to leave your zone of comfort and protection, like God has called out Moses, and you do that voluntarily, you put yourself in a position for the adventure of your life. You will be following the instinct that is already in you that is there to make your life a blessing to yourself. This will make you successful among other people, and maximize the probability of long-term success. And it will also bring abundance to your family and community.
So, what is the antidote to problems in life? The answer is not to seek comfort. The answer is something like a call to adventure. People need to carry a load, and we need adversity, and we need difficulty. We need all of that, else we can never be what is possible.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky knew this when he wrote Notes from Underground (1864). What he wrote was that if you gave human beings a utopia with nothing to do but eat cake and busy ourselves with the expansion of the species, the first thing we would do is smash it all to bits so that something unexpected and troublesome would happen, because we are built for adventure and not for peace and happiness.
Find something difficult to do, and engage without your crutches. You’re not built for comfort or pleasure. If that comes along, good. If you have a day where you’re comfortable and some things around you that give pleasure, then enjoy it. But don’t be thinking that’s what your life is aimed at. That thinking is contemptible. Everyone knows it. And if we orient ourselves toward that hedonistic direction, there’s nothing in it but shame. No one is proud of themselves for living any lifestyle they chose. No you can’t. The adventure in your life will be found in voluntarily adopting responsibility.
Throw away your crutches because only by doing so will you live. To truly live bravely without your staff, through adventure, is the most moral thing we can do for ourselves and for others. Otherwise, we kill our own souls.
NOTE: This article is based on a series of Prof. Jordan Peterson’s lectures.
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This is also a very religious way of thinking. As you implied, Gen. Satterfield. Do not use a crutch to get things done, or you will become dependent upon it. The struggle matters.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, mainer. You are right that this idea has deep roots in faith and Scripture. In the book of Exodus, God told Moses to throw down his staff, the very tool he leaned on every day. When Moses obeyed, that staff became a snake and later a powerful instrument in God’s hands. The lesson is clear: we must let go of what we depend on so something greater can take its place. Holding onto crutches may feel safe, but it keeps us from growing into who we are meant to be. The struggle itself shapes character and builds the strength we need for the road ahead. I appreciate you seeing the religious truth behind these words. May we all find the courage to throw away our crutches and trust what comes next.
ZB, you’re starting to sound like AI, I hope you take my criticism in a good way, the way it is meant.