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The Hairy Tortoise

Ever wondered about conflicting advice?

Specify exactly what you want, and ask the universe. Wait for delivery.

No? Make God laugh, tell him your plans.

In dealing with people, be completely honest and up-front.

But…in negotiations, don’t reveal your hand.

Forgiveness will set you free.

And yet, forgiving too easily will make you a pushover.

Love your enemies, cherish your family.

What if your enemies may harm those close to you?

The tortoise always gets there quicker than the hare. However what kind of a journey does s/he have?

Bourcy the hare, lived life in the fast lane. Energy crackled off him like an over-charged pylon. No time to sit and ponder, life was precious, and he lived every day as if it was his last.

Want it doing? Consider it done. What’s next? Life kicks your backside? Get up, dust yourself off and tackle the next challenge. Good idea? Yes. I’ve thought about it, now let’s do it

Bourcy was an inspiration to those around him, who [to Bourcy] wasted their lives procrastinating, thinking and talking too much, and planning.

“Life is not a rehearsal. If you don’t know what you want, someone else will decide for you. God helps those who help themselves,” sums up Bourcy’s creed. And he was right.

Jinky the tortoise, never quite seemed to have it sorted. But to Jinky, that was others judging him by their own [in truth those which dominate society] rules.

Jinky has helped hundreds of people over the years, sharing the results of his search for life’s meaning. Profound and deep. Impresses people with his intelligence and wisdom.

“We all have a purpose when we come on to the earth plane. It is important for us to discover what it is, then do it,” sums up Jinky’s creed. And he was right.

And for all those who knew other Bourcy’s and Jinky’s, they got frustrated by Bourcy’s impatience and Jinky’s being too laid back.

To Jinky, Bourcy’s excesses summed up everything wrong with society. 100 mph lifestyles, fast this, fast that. Never time to smell the flowers.

To Bourcy, if Jinky spent as much time living as he did finding out about life, he would realise his potential in this lifetime.

A few years ago, Bourcy had a serious health scare. He nearly died. Since that day he vowed to live life to the full, and leave others to work out what it all means.

“Jinky must be near to finding out by now what life is about, and when he does he can tell me. It strikes me you can spend you life searching, keel over then look back and wonder what happened to the last 70 years.”

“I admire Bourcy. He’s an inspiration. I used to be like him myself. Thing is, I never knew my origins like him, and despite my best efforts, it was always something that seemed to get in the way. He’s right, we are here to enjoy life. And yet to me, no matter how much we do enjoy it, we have serious lessons to learn. And no matter what we do, some of us do have more stuff thrown at us than others. I’m sorry, sometimes getting up again after the 100^th knockdown requires reflection, rather than headfirst action.”

“Jinky thinks I don’t reflect does he? Well, I do occasionally pause for breath. I know I make mistakes, and often repeat them. I’m wondering if we combined his knowledge and my experience, what kind of team we’d make?”

“There’s no one on the planet I feel envious of or better than. Bourcy has his life to lead. Self-evidently some people do have harder lives than others. And it has nothing to do with ‘going for it’. We all know those who have gone for it and fallen flat on their faces. Equally, we know those who sleepwalk through life, taking no risks, getting by on stimulants. If people do ‘go for it’, and their lives have meaning, fantastic!”

Years ago, Bourcy and Jinky met at a ski lodge, opened for the summer. In winter the ski lodge was full of amateur and professional skiers. It was much more expensive to be there when it snowed.

Unlike Bourcy, Jinky could never get his head around skiing. A recipe for broken limbs. And can you imagine a tortoise on skis? Up in a hot air balloon, yes. Not for him endless rounds of exhilaration coming down hill, flogging back up, even if it was by a lift.

Their famous race was held in the grounds of the ski lodge. And we all know who won.

The race judge, an old goose who watched in amazement as the tortoise won the race had her own observations:

“As I move towards the end of my life, I’m grateful. Like every single one of us, no-one has any idea when our number is called. That I’ve lived a typical goose’s life will do me. Because what is a typical life for anyone? We eat, we breathe, we drink. We overcome obstacles sent to us, and some create obstacles in their minds that don’t exist. We have leisure time, we bring up our young, we ‘waste’ time. We learn and we love.”

“The truth is at the root of dissatisfaction is comparing ourselves to others. Without living somebody’s else’s life for them, how can we ever compare? Do we measure it by the number of hours we spend smiling? Do we get a rating off our partners, parents, and kids. Is the life of a goose safer or more dangerous than a hare’s? Does it depend where the hare lives? We geese can move away more easily!”

“Does Jinky’s shell hold him back? Would he be any happier if he had hair? We all know those who are rich and miserable, and those who are poor and miserable. We know those who are rich and happy, poor and happy. Money gives you more choices, and is everyone’s birthright. Yes even for us geese. Rich geese can afford devices which tell us when guns are approaching. And every one of us benefits.”

Rich geese are the same as hairy tortoises, and bald hares. What happens after you cross the finishing line?

JS, August 2006