Several years ago, before ride-sharing apps became popular, a taxi driver in a city I was visiting told me that he wanted to be a real estate agent. He’d love to show houses to people, he said. He seemed to be a sociable person with something of a tour-guide attitude (he pointed out to me landmarks we passed by on the way), and I could see how he could be successful as a real estate agent.

“Why don’t you go for it?” I asked.

I do not recall what exactly he said in response, but it was something to the effect that he had never considered actually doing it.

While we were chatting, I looked up the real estate licensing requirements in his state. As I recall, they involved successfully completing a course, filing an application, and paying a small fee. I shared my findings with my interlocutor and asked why exactly he thought a career in real estate was out of reach. Was there a particular requirement he could not fulfill? Or an aspect of the job that presented an obstacle?

The answers were “no” and “no.” It just seemed impossible for some reason, but he couldn’t say why.

I tried to suggest that he give it a try. What, after all, was the worst that could happen if he did? If for some reason it did not work out, he could always go back to taxi driving.

He seemed at least somewhat persuaded by our conversation, though I don’t know what happened later.

I have thought about this case repeatedly over the years. The situation is not unusual. Most of us have a tendency to submit to the oppressive aspects of life by simply taking them for granted, by imagining that they are fixed and immutable. When we do this, we are like people who have a large room but dwell in a small corner of it, pacing up and down in exasperation, feeling confined and deprived of oxygen, simply because there is a paper fence around us that looks much........

© Psychology Today