Shells are very helpful. They provide a safe place to grow if you’re an egg. They’re handy armor against predators if you’re a turtle. And they can give you a place to think if you’re a human.
“Coming out of your shell” is seen as an automatic goal if you’re a person, but we don’t lend enough credit to learning the ability to go in and out of them as you need. Yes, you should come out sometimes – a turtle would be safer if it never came out, and also it would be dead. But you sometimes need a certain calm safety that the world will not always provide for you, and it’s handy to learn how to generate it yourself.
Don’t think of your own shell like the egg’s – something only to protect you until you’re ready to abandon it forever. Grow one like the turtle’s. Give yourself space when you need it, poke your head out into the sun when you’re ready. But keep it with you when you need it again.
The Opportunity Machine 