Life Lessons via Turtles

The evening I spent watching turtles hatch from their eggs, emerge onto the sand free to start their life served as allegories to my own life. The first turtle was strong and came through the sand strongly and relatively quickly. As we waited for the second one, it was tempting to try to help it because we knew that the Canadian family was waiting to see the release, and it was getting late. According to our timeline, the turtle needed to finish its hatching process NOW. Under the guidance of my mentor and against my better judgment, I may have brushed a little sand away to make his escape route slightly less obstructed.

Fast forward to the runway of sand between the turtles’ current position and their final dwelling place in the big black ocean: Turtle #1 stood there for a moment clearly apprising his current situation and enabling his nature kick in telling him to “Go toward the water!” Eventually, he started moving in the right direction with a marked amount of zeal. Similar to the circuitous routes of life, he didn’t take the most direct path either. However, he kept moving, eventually reached the water, and was swept away to fight the odds. Only 1/1000 baby turtles survive to adulthood. Only time will tell if he’ll be smart enough, strong enough and fast enough to survive the big, bad world of ocean life.

Turtle #2 on the other hand was confused. He sat completely still before turning his back to the water and walking away. Time without number, we turned him back around, lured him with red light and patted the sand, creating vibrations in the sand to attract him, but nothing was working. After about 30 minutes, he made a few promising steps toward the water but started veering severely to the right, so much so that soon he was going completely in the wrong direction again. We created a barrier to the right to increase the appeal of going straight or to the left. He continued to plow into the barrier. I tried to talk some sense into him. “Buddy, whatcha’ doing?! Can’t you see the big open expanse of sand to your left? Why do you insist on trying to go where there is no way?”

At that moment, I had a brief flash of enlightenment. I wonder how many times God has looked at me repeatedly ramming into some circumstantial barrier and said, “Hey buddy, whatcha’ doing?! Can’t you see all these better possibilities that are available for you if you would look around instead of having tunnel vision!” It seemed so obvious couched in this turtle scenario, but it becomes so much more muddled in the beach of life where everything just looks like sand in all directions!

In addition to my moment of enlightenment, I was also receiving a lesson in natural selection before my very eyes. Humankind is the one species that has found a way to outsmart natural selection, but it is a harsh reality for every other living creature. Despite the fact that turtle #2 eventually made it to the water’s edge, I’m confident he’s not going to be the one beating the 1/1000 odds of survival. Now, I did have a slightly guilty conscious wondering if I had not brushed the sand away and instead let it hatch in its own time, might its future have looked different? Hmmm, maybe allowing events to take their natural course is a better idea than pushing them through on my personal schedule. Could this be a second flash of enlightenment in such a short period of time?! I may have ushered these turtles into their first hour of life, but they served as a vehicle for some much needed wisdom in my own life.