Be the Hare!

The Tortoise and the Hair- revisited…

I wanted to title this post originally as MYTH BUSTED! but then I’d get a lot of disappointed visitors thinking I’d done all this research to de-bunk some awesome myth but that just isn’t the case here. Or they’d think I was associated with the show and be all like, “YOU AREN’T JAMIE!” and I’d say that I have a cool hat like he does but negatory to the facial hair bit.

As I was showering and thinking- my best thinking happens while I’m showering because it’s the only place I’m awake and uninterrupted- I began to think of the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. I have no idea why that came to mind. I have 2 kids under the age of 4 so I guess that sort of explains it. Anyhoo, it occurred to me that the fable, AKA “myth” was really about a false ideology, about the slow and the steady winning the race, etc.

Perhaps the government really pushed this fable to get people to vote for government programs or something. Like our Grandparents, who have since passed down this ‘work ethic’ to us. I can see FDR plotting behind closed velvet curtains (I don’t know why I visualize velvet curtains) in the oval office like Mr. Smithers from the Simpsons, dictating, “If you work hard enough your whole life you will get a reward, Social Security. If you pay into it, Uncle Sam will take care of you!” Maybe I’m just cynical and jaded, but that is so FALSE. One, I don’t want to depend on the government. (Side tangent here, for the sake of this blog post, let’s pretend that I’m not being a total hypocrite here and receiving WIC and TEFRA from the government… ha ha…) and Two, Social Security is messed up and most financial planners will tell you NOT to count on it. The sad truth is that we (collectively my generation) will probably not receive Social Security.

As I stood in the shower I thought of the Hare running around like a crazy bunny, hopping from place to place and he was the quicker of the two animals. If he hadn’t been lazy and overly confident he would have won the race without a problem. I think about all the biographies of millionaires I’ve read (OK OK, saw Regis and Kelly interview them) and the one common thing that binds them is FAILURE. Most of them were broke, bankrupt and humiliated at some point in their life.

I don’t think I’ll ever be a millionaire and I don’t particularly want to be broke- but really, I AM broke right now- but I like the concept of trying new things, being bold and confident and doing old things in a new way that makes more sense! Life is a grand adventure, I don’t ever want to be so closed minded to frightening possibilities that I miss the excitement and fun. I’m not saying to be irresponsible but I think that you should take risks! I want the soul pounding feeling of being alive, burning through life, some times more intensely than others- like the Hare. I don’t want to not finish the race but I want to have lived a good life, not plodding along slowly with tunnel vision.

  • http://www.hillbillywisdom.com Hillbilly Wisdom

    I enjoyed your connection to the fable. I’m with ya on being the hare!

    “I want the soul pounding feeling of being alive, burning through life, some times more intensely than others- like the Hare.”

    LOVED, LOVED, LOVED that sentence!

  • http://adollopofmylife.blogspot.com Lindsey

    great post!

  • http://kellyspinkbicycle.blogspot.com Kelly

    When we talked this morning, I was amazed by how much sense this made. In reality, the fable is teaching kids to hope that someone else fails, because that’s really the only way anyone else can succeed. If the Hare hadn’t fallen short, the turtle wouldn’t have won anything and, instead, would have just been mocked for his slow, amateur attempt. I don’t ever want to tell my child, “Yes, try out for football, because if the quarterback gets hurt you might stand a chance!”

    Who wants their child to wish for the failures of someone else in order to have a chance at success?

  • http://TheBusyNothings.com Heidi

    Thanks so much! You clarified it even further, I LOVE that! HAH!