Thought Exploration: Running Your Race to Reach Your Goal 🐢🐇

Chances are that you have heard the story of the Tortoise🐢 and the Hare🐇. A story grounded in moral messages about: staying committed to your goal, how pride leads to your downfall, etc.. As you go through your day, consider the story’ s outcome and the racer’s decisions that contributed to their performance along the way... Much like ourselves, both the tortoise and the hare found themselves facing the pressure of comparison. The decision to accept the challenge, the strategies they deployed, the ways that they handled the journey complete with its ups and downs, insults and pride…in each and everyone one of those moments a decision was made - a personal choice. So, what made the difference? I suggest it was what they allowed to influence their personal commitment to reaching the goal. The degree to which they could accurately and purposefully define their relationship to the realities of who they were. Both of them had their unique strengths, unique weaknesses and both of them were subject to the assumptions and perspectives of those around them. But only those things that are aligned with their intended end could serve them. The tortoise resisted the perception laid upon it and ran its race the way that it felt was right for itself. The hare gave in to the praise and pride of perception and prioritized the premature victories gained through comparison centered decisions. These short-term victories ultimately pulled the hare off course, leading to burnout and ultimately losing the race that it could have easily won if it had been racing alone. As you reflect consider: 1. Where might comparison be leading you to distraction? 2. In what ways does forgetting that this journey is a race against yourself and NOT others cause you to burnout or become discouraged? 3. What would happen if you embraced the truth of you, accepting that you are exactly what is needed for the journey ahead?