Turtle and the Golden Buddha

I’m slow.

Everyone says so. I’m the one walking a full kilometer behind everyone on a hike, reaching the top half an hour later. It takes me two hours in the morning just to get out the door for work.

And when it comes to my personal projects? Yeah, that might take weeks.

I could list at least a dozen examples like this, and they all seem to end with the same not-so-flattering label: slow. And as I’m often reminded (mostly by myself), some people in the same time conquer many peaks, do even more things and receive well-deserved applause for their work.

Meanwhile, I move at my own pace. Like a turtle.

But… what about the turtle?

Does it feel slow?

Does it ever think there’s something wrong with it?

Can a turtle feel like it’s falling behind in this hyper-speed world?

Well... I’ve never really felt that way either.

Whenever someone told me "you’re slow," I’d just blink in surprise.

Really? Oh. I guess I better speed up then…?

But deep down, it never felt right.

I couldn’t quite believe it.

Still, I tried. I tried to keep up. Tried to match the pace of others, of time, of life.

And let me tell you – trying to catch up all the time? Exhausting. And still confusing. So logically, the moment came when exhaustion reached its maximum. But here’s the thing: sometimes clarity only shows up when you're totally cornered. When you’ve got no energy left to pretend, all that’s left is you. That’s when the layers start to fall away, the beliefs, the expectations. And the shell you’ve built to protect yourself – just like the turtle curls into its shell when things get rough. Or like the Golden Buddha in Wat Traimit, hidden for centuries beneath layers of stucco.

Well, I'm definitely not a Buddha (though it’s a lovely idea), but... I'm jasmine.

OMG! Turtle, Buddha, jasmine...what comes next?

LOL – I have to laugh writing this. The whole point is coming... slowly, isn't it? But that's it!

That’s exactly how it should be! That’s what I needed to see. I enjoy it.

I like being slow.

I want to be slow.

I want to live at my own rhythm and finally be happy about it.

No more hiding. No more stucco. Just me – slow, steady, true.

"Slow" became my word. My motto. My mantra.

I allowed myself to do everything slowly.

And it changed everything.

Now I soak in slow mornings, savor every mountain hike, and show up to work with presence.

No guilt. No anxiety. Just me, doing it my way. And you know what? Nothing bad happened.

None of my friends stopped liking me.

None of my dreams ran away.

The world didn't stop spinning.

Only joy stayed. And relief – so huge it might just rival the Golden Buddha himself.

But what about the jasmine?

Right now? It’s just for me.

A poetic little metaphor that finally makes sense.

Jasmine is my favorite scent. And slowly (of course), I realized how perfect that is.

Jasmine blooms at night. It waits for the world to quiet down, for the rush to fade, for stillness to settle in. Then, and only then – it opens. Slowly.

Thanks to jasmine, I know I don’t have to chase the daylight.

I don’t need to rush to keep up with anyone else.

I’m not late.

I’m just not on their clock.

I’m not slow – I’m blooming in my own time.

And when I do… the air changes.

With love, Vi. ❤︎

PS: And if you're curious about what happened to the Golden Buddha, here you are - the tale of the biggest Golden Buddha from Wat Traimit. Enjoy :)