A New Take on the Tortoise and the Hare

As I reflected on this week’s topic of persistence, it reminded me of Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. The standard moral of the story is that the race is not always won by the swiftest. The tortoise’s persistence was so strong that he was able to win the race despite the overwhelming odds against him. And the hare was so overconfident that he allowed himself to be sidetracked by taking a nap, eventually waking up to find that he was too far behind to catch up.

The tortoise proved his point, that slow and steady can win the race, and that he can get along just fine, thank you, with his own set of skills. Yet maybe the hare was a winner here, too. Maybe the failure of losing this race taught the hare a much more valuable lesson about the virtues of being persistent and the dangers of being too proud and confident.

And … maybe the hare just needed to take some time out for a little self-care. Maybe he was tired from all that running around and needed to take a nap. Maybe he felt so good after getting some much-needed rest that he realized losing one little race was not that big of a deal. (By the way, the Greek word for self-care is “autophrontida.”)

As a perfectly imperfect perpetual work in progress, I can identify with the hare. I make mistakes ALL the time, but I see them as opportunities for growth. Some of my greatest growth has come after I’ve learned from my mistakes. And my goal is to never repeat the same mistake.

Nobody is perfect, so we all have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, and our persistence drives our efforts to continue to learn and grow. Even though we may become overwhelmed and tempted to give up, we are motivated to move forward despite our obstacles, and our persistence creates an atmosphere of hope.

When we engage in persistent actions, we are being resilient. We are showing a commitment to achieving a goal and a willingness to do the hard work necessary in spite of our perceived or actual barriers.

So as you move forward and grow, be as persistent as the tortoise and as focused on self-care as the hare may have been. But above all else, never compare yourself to anyone else … and don’t ever underestimate yourself. Only compare yourself to YOU.