Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Tortoise and the Hare

Slow and steady she plods along,
The tortoise, making little progress
Passed in the dust by the speedy hare
Rushing, full speed into the unknown

Then a race is declared between them
"I will win," the hare proudly proclaims
The slow and steady tortoise quietly accepts 
And is left behind at the word "Go"


Later the restless hare tires, stops to nap
Along the way. He sleeps soundly
While the ever moving tortoise plods by
And wins the race by enduring to the end
The journey is conquered not by speed
But by steadiness and focus on the goal 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Lin. I love this story...have loved it since the first time I heard it read by my first grade teacher. It so reminds me of myself, I'm not a fast person, never have been - not at anything. LOL

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  2. Like the Tortoise, I tend to plod along slowly...or maybe sluggishly is a better word. Like the Hare, I like to stop and rest my feet, and look around at where I am now, and think about whether I want to go east or west from this point, and pick a few posies... I have a tough time relating to this story for that very reason. I'll never win a blue ribbon in "focusing on the goal". There is such a worthy moral to this story. Maybe I'll tackle it when I finally grow up.

    About the hunting thing. My oldest son is a hunter, as was my dad. My sweetie and our other sons have no interest in it whatsoever. I will say that Dustin does use whatever he hunts extremely well. He's even been known to tan hides. He enjoys venison, elk meat, chucker, dove, pheasant, etc. and either makes jerky, or freezes it and he has made some mighty tasty meals with his "kills". But, the biggest part of me still wishes he'd just throw a few more carrots and potatoes in the pot, and shoot the deer, elk, and pheasants with a camera. Ahhh well.

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  3. Indeed--it all begins with having a goal...

    Thanks for the reminder.

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  4. I would like to be the hare..but I am the tortoise. I can be impulsive and impatient, but I am working on that and have been for...52 years...I should have it right by now shouldn't I...LOL..

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