Today’s story begins in Central Park, New York. Central Park is really BIG. Like, it has its own zoo!
My informant was ambling through when they came across a turtle. Not so unusual, but the odd thing was that this turtle was a long way from where it should have been.
Sadly it was going the wrong way and trying valiantly to climb some steps which was a futile and misguided endeavor.
The passerby watched the struggle for some time, not really quite knowing what should be done. They weren’t a qualified vet and the turtle wasn’t exactly forthcoming with a home address or a mobile phone number. Still an email was sent to an authority later in the day and hopefully Tommy / Trina was rescued by an appropriate person.
A few things to draw out of this wildlife adventure.
Sometimes it feels like we are the turtle. We stumble and fumble and whilst we are convinced we are going the right way for the right reason, we are hideously lost and it takes an outsider to put us back on the right path.
Sometimes we are the passerby and we can miss the cue or think the situation is beyond us. Maybe when we come across a ‘turtle,' we are exactly the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
It is difficult to discern whether we are the turtle or fixer upper. The reality is that we flit quickly from one to the other and the trick is to know which one we are and when.
Finally, it’s OK to kick something upstairs to a specialist. I didn’t do this often enough in my early days. Now I kick things ‘sideways’ or ‘upstairs’ at every opportunity and I am a much happier turtle for it.