Using your eyes to view the leanly muscled long limbs of
The Hare
, you'll say something like "that creature has all the tools to win the race."
The Hare's opponent is
The Tortoise
. And we all know who wins this race. Even though the former has all the tools to blow the latter out of the water, the slower, boring, toolset wins.
Using a different vantage than just eyes you might say it's actually The Tortoise who has the right tools to win the race. Because this story isn't about a literal footrace. It's about a journey. And it's not about lean, long muscle vs slow, short, stubby limbs. It's actually a story about temperament and someone's why.
As in, why was The Hare in the race? To beat his opponent The Tortoise. Why was The Tortoise in the race? Nobody can say for sure. It must've been something unique to him. A reason nobody could ever take away from him with an insult such as "You're too slow, don't bother". Because this was obvious to The Tortoise.
The Tortoise accepted the race and went on it fully knowing the details the world screams at him. You are too slow! The Hare is too fast!
What we love about this story is that The Tortoise still goes. We use the word still because we can't imagine anyone realistically being such a way. Why would anyone embark on something when they know they are going to lose.
And this is the key attribute we are missing out on when looking at this story and at life. The Tortoise never lost. And The Hare never won. Even had The Hare crossed the line right away he lost at the beginning before the race began for his reason to win the race was simply to win the race. Whereas for The Tortoise he began the race for a whole another reason. A reason nobody ever talks about. Because it's a driver even deeper than winning. Perhaps there's not even a word for it because the drive is something so pure that nobody ever decided to attach it to a word.
