Off the Grid

As a child, I remember hearing the story of the tortoise and the hare. It went something like this:

A tortoise and a hare decided to race one day. They started off and the Hare bolted off the start line. The tortoise slowly settled into a slow crawl. Soon the Hare was bored with running so fast and he came to a nice swimming hole. So he stopped and took a dip. The tortoise continued his trudge. When the Hare saw him in the distance, he quickly resumed his sprint and quickly passed the slow moving turtle. But then he saw a cute little bunny and stopped to chat with her. The tortoise again took the lead. The distractions continued and they leapfrogged each other until at last the Tortoise was within inches of the finish line. The Hare raced to catch him and win the race, but it was a photo finish with the Tortoise winning by a hair.

I remember reading this and for some reason being impressed with the Tortoise. However, I realize now that, in fact, it was the Hare that came out ahead. Both got to the finish line at relatively the same time, but the Hare enjoyed the journey far more than the plodding Tortoise. He enjoyed the trip as opposed to just grinding out the miles.

Slow and steady wins the race was the motto to take away from that fable, but I propose an alternate interpretation:

Slow and steady may win the race, but stop and sprint and you'll have a blast...

I am the Hare.