Stories that stay

When we were kids, our parents and teachers used to tell us simple but memorable stories. One of which is the story of a speedy hare that lost a race to a slow-moving tortoise. The central message of the story was clearly simple at that time – ‘slow and steady wins the race’. After over 20 years, the story is still as fresh as yesterday. Nowadays, in so many moments, I caught myself being physically present but mentally elsewhere. I was supposed to work in front of my laptop but was checking Facebook and Instagram in between writing. My mind was thinking about pending tasks on my to-do list while attending webinars, making me unproductive at both places. One day, the story emerged again, and it struck me how similar I was to the hare in the story – both of us did not stay focused on our course. Since then, I always ask myself, am I doing what I am supposed to do right now? If you ask me, have I ever thought that stories like The Hare and the Tortoise can still influence me today and even teach me how to live in the present? The answer is No, but it did.

Stories leave a long-lasting impact. They allow us to make sense of the world and derive deeper meaning from our lives. Stories may be simple, but they deliver powerful messages. Stories are inclusive—they engage people of all ages with different backgrounds. Stories make complicated things easier to comprehend and sometimes serve as guidance in moving our lives.