𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆…𝑺𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

Well ! No one has ever bothered to ask the Hare his side of the story, so let me tell you the story from a different point of view…I met the Hare and sat down with him for a heart to heart talk.

This is what he had to say after we spent the better part of a balmy summer afternoon getting to know one other.

It was a wonderful experience, believe me..

“Yes, I am the hare who lost.

No, I did not get lazy or complacent.

Let me explain.

I was hopping over the meadows near the hills and looked back to realize that the tortoise was nowhere to be seen.

Assured of my healthy lead, I decided to take a short nap under the large banyan tree near the pond.

The anticipation of the race had kept me up all night.

For days, that old silly tortoise had boasted about his ability to plod for hundreds of miles without stopping.

Life is a marathon, he said, not a sprint. I wanted to show him that I could run both far and fast.

The shade of the tree was like an umbrella.

I found an almost oval rock, covered it with grass, and turned it into a makeshift pillow.

I could hear the leaves rustling and the bees buzzing – it felt they were collaborating and even conspiring to put me to sleep.

And it didn’t take them long to succeed.

I saw myself drifting on a log in a beautiful stream of water.

As I came near the shore, I found an old man, with a flowing beard, sitting on a rock in a meditative pose.

He opened his eyes, gave me an all-knowing smile, and asked:

“Who are you?”

“I am a hare. I am running a race.

”“Why?”

“To prove to all the creatures in the jungle that I am the fastest.”

“Why do you want to prove that you are the fastest?”

“So that I get a medal which will give me status which will give me money which will get me food…”

“There is already so much food around.” He pointed to the forest in the distance. “Look at all those trees laden with fruits and nuts, all those leafy branches”

“I also want respect. I want to be remembered as the fastest hare who ever lived.”

“Do you know the name of the fastest deer or the largest elephant or the strongest lion who lived a thousand years before you?”

“No.”

“Today you have been challenged by a tortoise.

Tomorrow, it will be a snake.

Then it will be a zebra.

Will you keep racing all your life to prove that you are the fastest?”

“Hmm. I didn’t think about it.

I don’t want to race all my life.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to sleep under a banyan tree on a makeshift pillow while the leaves rustle and the bees buzz.

I want to hop over the meadows near the hills and swim in the pond.”

“You can do all these things this very moment.

Forget the race.

You are here today but you will be gone tomorrow."

I woke up from my sleep.

The ducks in the pond looked happy.

I jumped into the pond, startling them for a moment.

They looked at me quizzically.

“Weren’t you supposed to be racing with the tortoise today?”

“It’s pointless.

An exercise in futility.

All I want is to be here.

Hopefully, someday, someone will tell the world my story ,

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 !!

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Live life to the fullest
Today, tomorrow and always

Live Life.on.the.slow.track

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Another twist to the age old story

You’ve likely heard the classic tale. There is a race. A tortoise and a hare are the competitors. The hare gets off to a huge head start and decides to take a nap. In the meantime, the tortoise pulls ahead and wins the race.

Often when we hear this story, we relate to one character or the other. We see ourselves as either the tortoise or the hare. The “tortoises” among us feel justified in their slow-and-steady approach. The “hares” hear a reinforcement not to take a nap.

But here is what I’ve learned throughout my career when it comes to this story:

It’s best to be both.

Sometimes, a hare is required. Maybe it’s tax season and you’re an accountant. Maybe you’re a real estate agent and April to October is prime season. Maybe you own your own business and you’re in a super-growth spurt and you need to run on all cylinders, all the time. Whatever your role, there are seasons where it is full steam ahead and you need to go “all-hare” on the situation.

Sometimes, a tortoise is required. Someone who will methodically work their way through all of the options. Someone who will press pause on all the other exciting chaos to focus on the one important thing. There are times in business and life where it’s best to slow down, build a foundation, fix things that are broken so that you can move forward more quickly.

This story about these two animals is so powerful and yet, often misunderstood.

You are not one or the other.

The key to “winning the race”... is to be both. Let your rabbit run as fast and as hard as possible. And then, when the rabbit is tired, let her rest and trust that the tortoise will carry you forward. The truth is, there is no finish line. These two creatures are going to switch off, back and forth, between each other many times. The most important thing you can do... is let them