The Tortoise and the Hare

I was hiking in an open space preserve with my daughter and I had another epiphany. 

She was running ahead, as she is almost 5 and full of energy.  I was walking – plodding along.  She kept running off and then stopping because she was tired and had to rest.  I was in a nice pace and as I approached her, I just kept walking because I knew that, pretty soon, she would get up and run again.   She did.  She did this over and over.  She had a great workout and so did I.

At one point she asked me to run with her.  I told her that she is a runner and I am a walker.  My body, at almost 42, doesn’t want to run as much as walk or swim.  I can swim very fast, but when it comes to gravity based sports, am not the win.  She is.

Going fast is a rush.  People seek this adrenalin high the world over.  I have heard that one can hit Nirvana.  I have done this in my youth and I remember feeling absolutely beautiful at times.  I know this feeling and I understand the craving for it.  As a runner, one can hit a pocket where time stands still and the ‘zone’ is reached… a runner’s high they call it. 

In our society, we are rewarded for winning.  Whoever is the fastest, most beautiful, has the most money, most toys seem to be revered and regarded as royalty.  The technological breakthroughs of our lifetimes are all geared towards speed; doing things faster with ease and rampant with shortcuts.  However, there is one piece missing.  We seem to be getting farther away from closeness with others and in that we are further from ourselves.

Walking definitely has its own grace.  To be able to be in peace while walking is its own gift.  I can see things that other people running or riding a bike miss.   Talking with another person is easier while walking; where chatting while running is almost impossible. The human and earth connection gets sparse the faster we go.

I found a very important spiritual awareness came about me when I looked at what Thea, my daughter, was showing me by running ahead and then having to stop when she was tired. 

The classic old tale of The Tortoise and the Hare came to mind.  Later when I was reflecting upon the day, I saw the metaphor it held for our Hearts and the Minds. 

The Hare = the Mind and the Tortoise = the Heart.   

When we let our minds lead and run rampant, we get into trouble and expend too much for too little distance.  We have to stop and rest or we get hurt from pushing ourselves when we are exhausted. 

Slowing down enough to stay in a natural walking rhythm aligns our body, mind and spirit with the natural rhythm of our heartbeats.  The footsteps we take as we walk are in fact markers on our Earth-walk. 

The environment is more alive when we walk.  We can be mindful and attentive to the subtle nuances in our vision.  Runners miss this and so do bikers.  They miss the moments… the synchronicity of the clouds as they align with a birds wings and the song of that same bird as it lifts upon the wind.  Our hearts like to look at the scenery and absorb the surrounding.   Our minds are trying to run away.  In slowing down we assimilate so much more ---

With the Hare-Mind going so fast; all we can hear is ourselves; our thinking.  This idea is illustrated by racing thoughts, as the mind tries to figure out WHY, WHEN, WHAT, WHO, HOW… data, data, data.   

As the Tortoise; we can begin walk in unity with all that is around us and thusly be closer to the Great Spirit.  With soft feet we can feel the Earth beneath us carrying is, supporting our footsteps.  Every step we take is sacred…

There is something to be said for running.  I have heard it does clear the mind, but like a drug, it is temporary…

In walking and becoming mindful of our surroundings and our footsteps on the good earth, we can arrive in a central harmonic and even meditative heart-over-mind space and be at one with the Universe in a peaceful, tranquil and serene way. 

It is harmonious…  It is non-combative.  It is the steps which honor the Home in which we Live and Love.

The Tortoise knows because Heart Wisdom is greater than Head.  The Head is the follower… the Heart leads.  Head is where Ego Lives and Heart is where Spirit Loves.

The Tortoise Loves --- The Hare Lives.  The Hare ‘thinks’ it knows… it has convinced itself that what it’s doing is ‘good’  - even better than the Tortoise.  It laughs at the Tortoise and speeds by.   The Tortoise sits in its humility and sometimes feels humiliated… but… In the long run…

…or should I say long walk…?

--- The Tortoise Wins ~*

;o)

Slow and steady wins the race…

So, set your pace with ease and Grace…

~*Namaste *~