Timothy was swimming to the other bank
We were paddling our canoes towards the end of a fabulous 11.5 mile trek down the Harpeth River just West of Nashville.
Debbie was first to see the turtle, and we watched him as he noticed us and immediately picked up his pace to no avail. I swung the canoe port and plucked him out of the water.
As expected, he withdrew into his shell and did his best “I’m just a stone” impersonation.
We called our daughters who paddled over for a look. Within 3 minutes of my handing him to Jessica, he stuck his head (and neck) and all 4 legs out of his shell and began playing with Jessica.
Yep! If you can’t beat’m, JOIN’m!
He won our hearts in the matter of a few minutes with his enthusiastic, light hearted display of friendship.
Some might say that he’s done this before. After all, he is a very cute turtle living near the terminus of a VERY busy river route.
Was this “Survival Instinct” or was he simply a naturally social connector.
Perhaps he’s a very intuitive turtle and knew that we wouldn’t harm him?
Whatever the case, he brought great joy into our lives for the 10 minutes we had with him. We returned him to the river and completed our journey.
All of us have a LOT to learn from this turtle.
He didn’t judge us.
He led with Trust.
He reached out with love and quickly shifted to play once he felt safe with us.
His confident demeanor earned our instant respect.
He was generous with his good karma 
Even in the worst of possible scenarios (He had been captured by an unknown potentially dangerous predator), he kept his cool, assessed, and responded.
Every day, each us may be “that turtle” as we navigate through, over, under, or around the complexities of the day.
The only question remaining then:
How will we respond when we’re caught?
Do we hide or RUN?
Do we FIGHT?
or do we assess and respond (Meet them where they are)?
How does our “Default Response/React modus operandi” influence our success in life and Business?
Our daughters named him “Timothy” before releasing him, and we ever ever so thankful he crossed our path.
Residential Real Estate Principal Broker and Founder of Pareto Realty, LLC. Creating the quintessential real estate firm with emphasis on "Live, Work, & Play" balance . . . and a true Performance Oriented environment for Real Estate Professionals. Serving the Real estate needs of Home Buyers and Sellers in Middle Tennessee.
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