Who won, the tortoise or the hare?
Of course, the tortoise won, and we all know the moral of the story.
But what do you suppose the hare was thinking while the spectators were congratulating the tortoise on his astonishing and inimitable victory?
Mr. Hare could have handled the defeat in two ways.
He could have been angry about it. Or he could have learned his lesson and done better next time.
Hopefully, what the hare learned was this: we race only against ourselves.
We set the clock, we check our speed. We race to beat our records, not somebody else’s.
If someone has accomplished something ahead of you, it does not take away from the celebration that yours will eventually be.
If the tortoise had lost, it would have only meant that the hare ran his best race. So did the tortoise. The hare grew lazy and arrogant. Suppose the tortoise had given up before he passed his opponent?
Don’t hold yourself to somebody else’s timetable. You may be crawling, walking, running, or making the Kessel run in fourteen twelve parsecs, but wherever you are, you’re right where you should be:
MOVING FORWARD.
And if the hare, by “losing” the race, learned that lesson, then he won HIS race.
Hannah Gaudette - Author 