Tortoise  and the Hare

Today I found a running buddy! A box turtle was slowly making his way down the road as I passed him on my bike. I called out to him and told him to be careful, it was dangerous on the road. As I passed him again on my way home he had made progress, but was still in the road too far for my liking. I swapped out of my bike gear and into my running gear and headed out again on my brick workout. Sure enough, there he was, just plodding along and still making progress toward an unknown destination. Again I called to him and told him to move to the side of the road or he would be flattened by a car.

On my run home I could see him clearly, but now he had moved almost to the center of the road! Behind me I heard a car coming and knew that to miss me they could very likely hit my new friend. Like a crazy person I ran toward the middle of the road and put myself between the car and the turtle. As the car slowed and pulled up beside me the passenger rolled down her window and told me she had seen him and was going to move him to the side. My little turtle sure had people looking out for him.

That made me think of my running struggles. I should be like the turtle and work toward my goal no matter what the obstacle and not be easily side tracked by well meaning passers by. I'm sure when I left, Mr. Turtle started off again on his journey to only he knew where, shaking off the mild set back of a well meaning passer-by like me who totally took him off his chosen course.  Injuries, bad weather, birthday parties, work obligations; these are all obstacles that can side track me very easily. I need to learn how to go with the flow, take the set back, deal with the issues, then get back on track to a destination known only to me.

I want to be a turtle. I know I won't win many races but I know I'll finish. Whatever sets me back, or moves me to the side of the road, I can deal with and move on. Being a turtle is going to turn out just fine.