Lessons from Sea Turtles: the Masters of Cyclical Living
We’re in the full swing of sea turtle season here in South Florida. Where I live, we have three different species (Loggerhead, Leatherback, Green) that nest on our beaches. They start and end nesting at different times.
Leatherbacks start in February/March and will nest until Julyish.
Loggerheads start in April and will nest until Septemberish.
Greens start in May and will nest until.. well, it’s supposed to be October 31st because that’s when sea turtle season officially “ends” but I’ve seen Thanksgiving Day nests at the end of November.
Nature does what she wants.
Sea turtles not only will return to the same beach where they hatched, they will often lay multiple nests during the same season! One turtle can lay hundreds of eggs in the manner of just a few months.
Then they’ll skip the next nesting season. This is why, if you ever look at graph of number of sea turtle nests by year, you’ll notice that some years will be big, huge numbers and then next will decrease significantly (though, on a whole here in Florida, the numbers are on the rise. Wonderful news since all sea turtles are listed as either threatened or endangered).
It’s a lot of work hauling that several hundred pound (or closer to a thousand if you’re a leatherback) body out of the water, crawl uphill on the beach, dig a hole as deep as your flippers are long, birth 80-120 eggs, cover up the hole, camouflage it so critters can’t find your eggs, and then haul your heavy, exhausted self back down to the water.
Phew.
I always imagine the mamas finding a good size rock to hide under and taking a nice long nap after this.
Cool, Kara. I hear you saying. Fascinating fact.
TF does this have to do with me?
Well, I’ll tell you. But first, I have a question for you:
What are the seasons in your life?
Are you in a season of rest?
Are your days so full you don’t even know where to begin?
Are you in a season of transition, of shift and change?
Are you in a season of a new beginning?
Or perhaps you’re keeping on keeping on, enjoying just where you are in this moment.
We all have seasons in our lives.
And, just like our shelled friends, sometimes our seasons are very busy, exhausting in the most fulfilling way.
But that rest time is where the magic happens. That’s where we restore ourselves, reconnect with our purpose. By taking time to go with the flow, to play, to just be, we’re able to return to our true work with renewed vigor, ready to tackle whatever problems may arise.
Could you imagine if the sea turtle didn’t take that time off? If she didn’t focus on nourishment and rest and just burned through all her days like it was nesting season?
It simply cannot exist. Her body would not sustain that much demand for extended periods of time.
So why do we expect to be able to do the same? To burn and burn and go, go, go all the time and expect no repercussions, to be playing all out, full out, 24/7/365?
Nature designed us the same way: a time for work and a time for rest.
If you’re feeling anxious, strung out, like you’ve got the pedal to the metal and there’s no other way to live…
Perhaps take a cue from Nature. See where you can relax, feel held, simply float.
How do you play?
How do you rest?
How do you rejuvenate yourself?
On the flip side, too much idleness can also be detrimental. If the sea turtle didn’t take to such frequent, industrious acts as mating and reproduction, there wouldn’t be a population of sea turtles.
Often, we find ourselves saying “that sounds nice…” or “I’d like to…” and we decide to do a Netflix binge instead, or get so “busy” running our lives that we don’t make time for the work that really matters.
There has to be balance. Of rest, restoring ourselves so that we’re able to play full out. And of work. True, meaningful, impactful work.
So what is it that you need?
What are one to two things that you could do right now to create a more meaningful shift in your life– from hustle bustle to rest or from stagnation into motion?
Go gently, with intention. See how things change for you.