To be a turtle

Passing through Danemark last month, I met a beautiful women who gave me a gift and a lesson : a little jade Turtle. 

Being hyperactive on a daily basis, this gift was, at first, a bit frustrating. Until I started to understand it… 

To be a turtle is to be patient and present. Things take time, but a turtle doesn't sit on the side of the road, waiting for it to happen by itself. Nor does it try to rush things out in order to meet the end. A turtle simply knows. It knows that time is necessary. It knows when to act. It knows how to be here and now. Little by little, slowly, it goes forward on its journey, living each step as a precious moment. I wish I could be fully here and now, as the turtle is. 

Nature takes time to grow, to evolve, to live. We, as humans, have « found » ways to make it grow faster and bigger, but can you still call it nature ?

A garden will grow in its own time. You can't expected it to be ready and plentyful just because you wish it now. It will grow and bare fruits and vegetables, but you have to be patient. Nature is a patient process and I think it is arrogant of us to try to bend the rules to fulfill some egocentric economic purposes.

How many times have I been frustrated because I wanted to change my life « now » ? To stop buying what we don't need and live a different life ? How often have I been angry at myself and others to see that the world should take a turn now but I/we can't make the one big step ?

Then I realised that the so-called « one big step » is in fact a million of small deeds that at the end of the day, do make a big difference. Yes, drastic changes and impuslive acts are heroic. Who hasn't ever wished to be unique or a leader, even spiritually ?

It's so easy to call yourself something. But daily acts are were the revolution can live a long life. By no mean, I diminish the impact of a clear protest, either in the streets or on the web. We all agree that on the right circomstances, it's better to rip a plaster quickly in one go. But lasting homes have been built one steady foundations, stone by stone. House, relationship, education, developpement, creativity, we all know that whatever you want to build, you have to allow it the time it needs to blosom and last.

Besides, the good news is, when you take the time to build and walk slowly, you enjoy much more the sight. Indeed, you allow yourself to enjoy every tiny bit of existence because you don't only focus on what after the next bend. Future will be there in good time, no need to be over-anxious about it. 

In one way, I guess it's why road-trips are so different from taking a plane. 

These are only the few teachings from that small jade Turtle. Surly, there are others waiting to be discovered and lived. I can only guess what this little friend will teach me in the future and how his simple lesson will sink in more and more as time passes. 

Let peace come into our life. A peace of mind, of heart, of the full self. Let it shine from within into the world.