Do you have “turtle tendencies”?
Legal LawIf you were asked to compare your personality traits to a living creature, which creature would you choose? Could you be compared to a lion because people hear your roar? Or maybe a possum that plays dead when faced with a sticky situation? The list is endless to compare our personality traits with animals or reptiles. However, the creature that is of most interest to me in making a correlation is none other than the tortoise.
While a turtle can be cold, slimy, and live in a tank, pond, or ocean, it has other traits that can be very human-like. The turtle wraps itself in a hard natural shell, just as we wrap ourselves in shells of fear, denial, and guilt. The shells we wrap ourselves in are not always visible to others, but they are a very important part of who we are.
Over the years I’ve probably developed a “shell” of some kind…it was a necessity when I was going through cancer…as long as it was “tough” and I had my “shell” to protect myself. It could happen. That shell often took the form of laughter, jokes, bravery… when underneath I also felt the same anxiety, fear and worries that every cancer patient feels… but I focused on being tough on my children, my family and me. I have always been a positive thinker at heart and it is indeed a necessity during a difficult time. Yes, the shell of determination was solidly in place.
If we continue to reflect on the virtues of turtles, we realize that a turtle does not get anywhere without sticking out its neck. A tortoise cannot take a single step without sticking its head out. A turtle can’t get anywhere in life if it doesn’t take the first step of sticking its head out of its shell. We are often like the tortoise. Our turtle tendencies sometimes cause us to retreat into our shells and the process of taking risks, trying new adventures, facing trials, fighting for dreams, developing aspirations stalls as long as we remain within our shells of doubt and fear. If we don’t take chances, stick our necks out, or look for new directions, we quickly get stuck in the rut of our lives.
You have to take risks. The risks of trying a little harder and trying new things can propel us to new adventures and successes. The risk of enjoying life as it should be enjoyed can be liberating! If we don’t try new things and push ourselves to new heights, we’ll never know what we can become…and that would be a shame.
If you were asked to compare your personality traits to a living creature, which creature would you choose? Could you be compared to a lion because people hear your roar? Or maybe a possum that plays dead when faced with a sticky situation? The list is endless to compare our personality traits with animals or reptiles. However, the creature that is of most interest to me in making a correlation is none other than the tortoise.
While a turtle can be cold, slimy, and live in a tank, pond, or ocean, it has other traits that can be very human-like. The turtle wraps itself in a hard natural shell, just as we wrap ourselves in shells of fear, denial, and guilt. The shells we wrap ourselves in are not always visible to others, but they are a very important part of who we are.
Over the years I’ve probably developed a “shell” of some kind…it was a necessity when I was going through cancer…as long as it was “tough” and I had my “shell” to protect myself. It could happen. That shell often took the form of laughter, jokes, bravery… when underneath I also felt the same anxiety, fear and worries that every cancer patient feels… but I focused on being tough on my children, my family and me. I have always been a positive thinker at heart and it is indeed a necessity during a difficult time. Yes, the shell of determination was solidly in place.
If we continue to reflect on the virtues of turtles, we realize that a turtle does not get anywhere without sticking out its neck. A tortoise cannot take a single step without sticking its head out. A tortoise will remain encased in its hard shell if it never sticks its head out. A tortoise can’t get anywhere in life if it doesn’t take the first step of sticking its head out… I also found similarities with the tortoise. Risks, adventures, tests, dreams, aspirations… all part of sticking your head out! If we don’t take chances, stick our necks out, or look for new directions, we quickly get stuck in the rut of our lives.
You have to take risks. The risks of trying a little harder and trying new things can propel us to new adventures and successes. The risk of enjoying life as it should be enjoyed can be liberating. If we don’t try new things and push ourselves to new heights, we’ll never know what we can become…and that would be a shame. We are here to reach our potential…we are here to stick our necks out…we are here to be like the turtle…to stretch our necks forward. I guess being like a turtle isn’t that bad.
We are here to reach our potential…we are here to stick our necks out…we are here to be like the turtle…to stretch our necks forward. Stick your neck out! Try something new! I think being like a turtle is not so bad!