The Lesson of the Tortoise
Do you
remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare? One fast and self assured the
other slow and steady. They set out to have a race and in the beginning it was
the hare that easily bounded ahead of the tortoise and almost made the finish
line before the tortoise managed to go very far at all. Yet, the self-assured
hare was just a little too self-assured and he decided to sleep before crossing
the finishing line and he slept so long and so soundly, that the tortoise
eventually crossed the finish line while he was still sleeping. Against all the
odds, the tortoise had won the race.
Why did
the tortoise win the race? We are often told that “slow and steady wins the
race” and there is truth in that. What is interesting about this story is that
both the tortoise and the hare were using their natural talents and they used
them to the best of their ability. From the point of view of Personal
Development maybe we should take a closer look and see what happened in this
story.
The tortoise,
while not fast entered the race with the best of intentions. He knew he
probably would not win, but that didn’t stop him participating. No doubt, he
went full speed and put his heart and soul in the endeavor. He didn’t just set
out on a walk in the park on a sunny day. He full utilized all his abilities
and in the end, it paid off and he won. No one was more surprised than he, to
find he crossed the finish line first.
The
hare likewise used all his abilities, and should have won the race, but he didn’t.
He had yet to learn the value of not having too much faith in his own
abilities. He became so self-assured that he became arrogant, that caused his
downfall, and his ability to win what should have been the easiest of races.
When we
compare ourselves to the tortoise and the hare we can learn some important life
lessons that may help us in our endeavors. The tortoise did what he did best,
to the best of his ability. He did not let circumstances overwhelm him, but
instead he did what was asked of him and he eventually found success. The hare
likewise did his best, but he let the circumstances get the better of him and
they did overwhelm him and he rested on his laurels rather than continuing to
the finish line and he found failure.
It is
worth asking if in our endeavors we find our successes by having the attitude
of the tortoise, or are more like the hare, and rely on our reputation and this
explains our failure to succeed.
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