Lesson #13:

Lesson #13: Take Time Out to Help

Photo Credit: Seyed Mostafa Zamani

This lesson came from an incident that happened this morning.

My mom and I were on our way to our Pure Barre class and were about to make a turn out onto the road when I happened to see a large turtle in the middle of the road.

This road is not a high speed road (it's a neighborhood road with a 30 mph speed limit) but in the morning there is quite a bit of car traffic.

We weren't sure what to do...we could've taken a left and gotten out of the car to help the turtle but at the time the traffic wouldn't stop so we had to just watch and brace ourselves. Out of instinct, I rolled down my window and yelled out to the turtle to "Hurry up! Go, turtle, go!". My mom frantically reminded me that the turtle can't understand me.

So, we were forced to watch, in agony, as the cars went by in each lane one by one. I watched different cars do different things. The turtle had pretty much made it to the center stripe and was kind of stuck there. At one point, just as the turtle had inched a little further into the left lane, two cars were approaching in both lanes from opposite directions. I was sweating bullets by this point. Luckily both cars managed to find away around - one pulled over far enough to the right to allow the opposite car to make its way around the turtle. I watched this happen a couple times to a couple of different cars. I was proud of my neighbors for being aware of what's in the road and for finding a compassionate way to deal with it.

HOWEVER, there were also a few people who did not share this compassion. I saw one car zoom within centimeters of hitting the turtle without even slowing down. Perhaps they didn't see (this turtle was extremely large, mind you...) so in that case, I worry about them being allowed to drive in the first place.

Another was on their cell phone and clearly didn't even realize that the car in the opposite lane was stopping so that they could try to make their way around the turtle. She also zoomed past without even bothering to notice that every other car around her was trying to find a careful way to maneuver themselves around the turtle without hitting it.

Finally a lady came to a stop in the middle of the road, got out of her car, picked up the turtle and walked across the oncoming lane to the field down to the pond on the other side where she placed the turtle. I was so grateful to this lady, who took the one extra minute of her time to save the turtle and clear the road for everyone else.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared my gratitude.

An older man drove up behind her car as she was getting the turtle. My mom and I watched as he became irate, pounding on the steering wheel and trying to find a way to go around her car. It literally only took her a minute, maybe even less, to get the turtle out of the road. What is so important that you cannot wait a minute? Then, as she was getting back into her car, he dangerously veered around her vehicle, almost hitting oncoming traffic as he did so, and squealed off down the 30mph neighborhood road. I was appalled. Mostly because that extra minute for the extra good deed meant so much to me with regards to restoring my faith in humanity and my belief in the goodness of the human spirit and soul.

There are many types of people out there. Some would've rather run the turtle over rather than stop their vehicle. Because the turtle, to them, means nothing. It gives them nothing, it does nothing for them so why do they care? It's a shame, really, that people have that mentality. As if their life on this Earth is so much more precious than any other - including that of some other humans. I know it's just a turtle, but to me that kind of compassion speaks of so much more.

Take the time to help one another. Offer to open the door, help carry a grocery bag to someone's car, smile and say hi to someone, let someone in front of you while sitting in traffic. Help a turtle cross a road. These little things all become part of something greater, and that something is the building of a more compassionate, just, and peaceful world.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” - Charles Dickens