the tortoise and the hare

My inspiration this morning came straight from Mr. Aesop himself. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare came to mind on my walk. Can't help it. My elementary background comes to the forefront often. Let me humor you with this cute little fable. Tortoise and Hare had a race. We all know that hare was in better shape and could run faster. He was created to run faster. Because of that, he was also a little on the "cocky" side. And then there is Tortoise. Known to be slow. Never in a hurry. But, since he wasn't created for speed he had to rely on other skills. He had to be very focused to get to his goal. Well as it goes, Hare sprints off with great speed. He takes a huge lead. But, he has to stop along the way because he runs out of steam. He also thinks that because of his great lead, Tortoise will never catch him. It did look that way, however he misunderstood something about Tortoise. He never dreamed that Tortoise was looking toward the finish line; was goal oriented. He didn't know how confident Tortoise really was either. That he wasn't judging himself by what others could do or what others thought about him. He didn't get caught up in performance. He just steadily worked at it...never giving up, persevering to the end. As we know, he won the race! Thus the moral of the story, "Slow and Steady Wins the Race." As I look and listen, I see it everywhere; on social media, conversations, everywhere. The craze to get fit, to lose weight. The mania to "keep up with the Jones." Competition, competition, competition. In the way we look, how many miles we can run or walk, what we drive, what we wear, what we live in, who our kids play with, what college they attend...the list goes on an on. It's just crazy. I know I'm old. Sixty to be exact. I have a small piece of advice; tiny words of wisdom (and it comes with age.) I know that whatever my hands find to do, I should do it well. I definitely don't want to be lazy. I want to stay healthy; spiritually, physically, and mentally. But, let's move at a pace that doesn't cause "burn out." Let's not live in a space that is always saying, "I should do this or "if I would have done that." Let's live in the grace of each day...really each moment. Let's enjoy what we're doing!  Truthfully if the load is too hard to carry, it was probably never meant to be carried. Jesus said that, I didn't. All I'm saying is according to Paul, "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." If we are doing, "whatever we are doing," for any other reason than "unto the Lord," we won't be able to hold out to the end.

Your speed doesn't matter...forward is forward 🐢 🐢

sammie jean💚

Taken April 17, 2017 in our yard