Everyone knows the popular children’s story.
The hare challenges the tortoise to a foot race, confident that he can outrun the much slower animal. The race commences and, straight out of the gates, the hare takes a commanding lead. The tortoise, meanwhile, plods on, one slow step at a time. The hare, confident that the tortoise will never catch up to him, decides to take a break close to the finish line and naps. When the hare wakes up to loud cheering, he sees that the tortoise is nearly at the finish line and, try as he might, despite his lead and speed, he cannot beat the tortoise who wins the race.
There are many take-aways: never to underestimate anyone; never to rest on one’s laurel; that how one starts is not necessarily how they finish; and that consistency, no matter how small the effort or the slow the progress, will ultimately triumph over haste and headlessness; and, of course, that humility remains an important virtue to nurture in any undertaking. All of these are important lessons to take to heart.
But there is something to be said for the tortoise, especially in modern times where shortcuts are touted as the best and smartest way to achieve any goal. There is an emphasis on unsustainable speed and on pointless optimisation, two things that do not align with the tried and tested ways in which any meaningful success has been achieved in the past.
As far as fitness and health is concerned, tortoises have always been greatly rewarded. Never rushing to trends, arriving at any novel method of exercising with caution after the hype and all of the associated injuries have died down, and, most of all, learning to enjoy each phase of training for its own sake. The tortoise looks out towards the distant goal and commits to chipping away at its goal one step at a time, regardless of how tedious the task may become. It commits to embracing potential boredom.
And when the goal is finally reached, the tortoise has seen more, experienced more, learned more, and, strangely enough, is better equipped to pursue yet another goal.
The message, then, remains the same: be the tortoise, not the hare.
Rémy Ngamije is an award-winning Rwandan-born Namibian author, editor, publisher, photographer, literary educator, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of The Forge.