Contrary to myth, the tortoise was not slow and plodding he was steady and consistent. The hare, on the other hand, well… what can one say about the hare except he acted as expected – spasmodically and unpredictable, but with flair.
It would be my contention that the tortoise got a bad rap and was not honored for his victory. While the hare may have been chastised for his behavior, the tortoise was only defined as slow and plodding. ‘Slow’ and ‘plodding’ have never really been qualities that have been lauded. More a…. if all else fails, be slow and plodding.
By now, gentle reader, you may have concluded that this is a tongue-in-cheek post. Nay. Nay, I say. Well… maybe just slightly. But look at the underlying assumptions on this little tale. Look at your perceptions of the words: slow, plodding, steady, consistent. The former two rarely are viewed as positive attitudes to cultivate. And while we may tsk the hare, the flair he gave was also given a more positive reaction. Kind of a … isn’t it too bad the hare lost?… rather than … wasn’t that a great tortoise win.
Our mindset about how we define words explains a great deal of how we act and react the way we do…. obviously. Thus what we need is more critical thinking, more ‘thinking outside the box’, more thinking about how we define the box. We may just discover that though the tortoise won the race, he had it right all along. Flair is good but so is steady. And consistent is not a dull word.
