There once was a small woodland turtle who wanted to swim
the river.
He made great progress.
A storm moved in one day. Its fury overturned many things.
It left turtle belly up.
His plans to cross into the river were delayed.
The humiliation being shell down, tender-side up was unbearable.
For a while, he desperately tried to right himself.
Flailing around in this vulnerable state, with no one to aid him,
drained all his
Until the gardener found him along the shoreline.
With unpretentious gentility, the gardener quickly flipped the poor
little creature shell-side up.
There was no exchange of words.
He watched turtle retract, rest, and return to his journey.
The kind look in the gardener's eye combined with the great
gratitude in turtle's heart caused the trees to clap their hands
and flowers to break out in joyful chorus.
It deepened compassion and gratitude along the riverbank.
Many other turtles gained courage to venture out and
explore different places and new ideas.
image freerangestock.com
There are days when circumstances flip us tender side up.
When we risk moving into new places,
we may find ourselves shell down staring at the sky.
Let us be thankful for the gardeners whose
unpretentious aide flips us over to continue moving forward in life.
