What A Turtle Taught Me
Turtles can teach us a lot about setting and achieving our goals. When you feel discouraged about attaining your goals remember this thought and the turtle!By Byron Pulsifer, © 2008
Learning is a continuous process of life, and we all learn from different things at different times in life. One of the things that impressed me recently is what I learned from turtles.
Turtles could teach a vast number of people a lot about reaching goals. For example, have you ever watched a turtle crossing the road, or making their way to a stream? The turtle knows where they are going, in other words, they have set a goal. So what, you ask? Well, the so what is that many people unfortunately go through life with no specific goal in mind. They seem to weave back and forth or do about faces because their life direction seems to change in relation to whatever influences them at the time.
Turtles, on the other hand, have a set goal in mind easily observed by taking the time to watch them. This turtle has a one direction mind set knowing that they have to keep going in that direction no matter what. And, no matter how long it takes them, they will do everything they can to reach their objective.
Sure, the turtle may be slow. Sure the turtle only has little short legs to get them to their destination. But, the turtle keeps going, and going, and going plodding along. What this turtle is teaching you is that each step it takes, no matter how small, keeps taking it closer and closer to its' goal, its' ultimate destination. The turtle knows that any action plan is only as good as the path that shows what each step of the action plan will do. And, did you ever see a turtle skip a step, do a leap, break into a run. No. The reason is that turtles have a better sense of the necessity of taking small steps over and over again to reach final victory more than we do.
The other thing about turtles is that they have a hard shell. The significance of this shell is to help them protect themselves from anything that may attack them. And, as the turtle taught me, we also need to develop a hard shell against those that would want us to fail, that would rather see us fail than succeed because for us to succeed makes they feel uncomfortable since these people want to remain secure in their own less than successful cocoon. Those of us who set out goals to achieve more, to do more, to break out of our comfort zones need to develop a shell that protects us from nay sayers, envy, or obstacles that will undoubtedly bombard us as we move forward.
And, finally, this turtle taught me one main ingredient to success that rises beyond all others. That is, the turtle, though slow moving, though unable to skip a step, or to rush, told me that the greatest characteristic to possess in reaching a goal is perseverance. No matter what the obstacle, there is a path around it. No matter how many times one is bombarded by negativity, there is strength in conviction. No matter how long it takes, there is a burning desire to achieve. And, through it all, through the entire journey, my ultimate secret weapon is my commitment to persevere. Thanks turtle.
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