We have all grown up on Aesop’s fables. By all means, you could not have escaped the one with the tortoise and the hare.
“There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, “How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?”
Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, “There is plenty of time to relax.”
Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare.
Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line.
After that, Hare always reminded himself, “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!”
But what have we made of it in our life?
The Hares in the Instant Age?
In this age of instant gratification, all of us are the hares. We are just not ready to wait and toil. Our noodles have gone instant, our life is fast-paced, food is fast, and emails are delivered across the globe at the click of the mouse!
There are lotteries to become a millionaire overnight and crash diets which promise weight loss in a week!
So used are we to instant results that there is no patience left. We get disheartened easily and give up readily.
We simply are not ready to wait. But the truth is, a big change does not happen overnight. It takes time and it is worth the while and effort!
Be the Tortoise and Make long-term Plans
We are, therefore, more than ever, in urgent need of Aesop’s fable today and it is extremely important that we take in a life lesson or two from our wise tortoise here!
As we are all used to our hare mentality, we give up when results are not up to our expectations.
Take an example. You worked out for three days a week in a month but lost no weight. You became convinced that losing weight is not your cup of tea and you went back to being a couch potato!
If our efforts are sustained, the result will definitely come, though maybe not as quickly as desired.
What is necessary is that we shift our focus from the short-term goals to more long-term ones. Taking baby steps towards our dream is of utmost importance and it is in terms of these long-term plans that we need to judge our progress towards our goals!
For success is nothing but the by-product of a disciplined life!
So, instead of obsessing over how many inches you reduced in a month, focus on how you have managed to exercise for more than 150 hours in a year. It is bound to have improved your health by leaps and bounds.
You may have failed to have completed the 20 minutes of daily meditation and you are definitely not yet spiritually awakened. But even with 10 minutes daily, you will have become more peaceful and mindful and creative in a month!
Finally, instead of sitting at home and brooding over when your desires will instantly manifest, you will have spent some quality time doing productive work that will help bring your desire into the manifest reality.
For, when the focus is not on the result, it starts manifesting fast, however ironical it may sound.
When we are consistent, there is a constant pace in our work which leads to small successes. These small successes lead again to a form of self-confidence which attracts for us more and more success and happiness!
The moral of the story of our life is that it is time to celebrate the slow again! For the race can only be won if we are steady, no matter how heavy the shell on our back is!
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