Here are some information about turtles: they are reptiles, have hard shell, can hide their heads, have been here on earth for millions of years, cold blooded and are currently endangered. Interestingly, they are carnivore, herbivore and omnivores. And they live a very looooonnnnnnggggg life!
So what so interesting about them? In many cultures, they are quite prominent. There is of course the famous fable of the turtle beating the rabbit in a race. They are called wise in Africa. They ward of evil in Egypt. They are related to fertility in Rome, symbol that is. They are one of the four spirits animals and represents the North in China. In India, turtles are said to carry the world. In Japan, they are said to be homes of the immortals. And so on and so forth.
When I see a turtle/tortoise, my initial thoughts are usually relating them to being so slow. Why are you so slow? They look so lazy. I'm wondering what kind of exercise they do to maintain their health. Then again, I only see them in land. But in waters, they are quite fast as research has always tell us. So from there, we can definitely relate that to our live. We need to find our niche, our place where we can really excel. The lesser effort with the greater output, the better.
The brains of the turtles are not really known to be smart, just smart enough. Yet, they are always symbolized as knowledgeable and wise in movies. Maybe because they are so slow in land, thus, their brains will compensate it? They are like old people who are slow in the physical area but have gain lots of experiences throughout life. So maybe in some ways, if we apply it in life, we need to think and work slow so that our output would produce good results. Slowly but surely (I'm recalling again the rabbit race), but it would sure take lots of patience.
And because they are slow, their ageing process is also slow. Does that mean we need to be slow as well to live long? For sure, scientists may have studied them for their longevity so that it can be applied as well to human beings... to attain immortality (hahaha, big word!). Then again, why would you want to have a long life if you are just there for the sake of doing it and not living it? Would you like a long and boring life or a short but exciting one? Or maybe I'll just go in between. (safe answer!)
Maybe in the future there will be new forms of turtles, unless if they go extinct (hopefully not!). I hope that they will continue to survive (and people, stop killing them please!!!). Who knows, we may encounter a real talking turtle that can share their lifelong learning (not just in movies). Ooopppps, that's not realistic as of now. Let's just learn from the turtle.... to be patient... to be strong... to live long (and happy life hopefully)!
