ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LIVING 7 Powerful Life Lessons From Sea Turtles

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COMMON NAME: Sea Turtles

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cheloniidae, Dermochelyidae

CLASSIFICATION: Reptilia

ORDER: Testudines

KINGDOM: Animalia

PHYLUM: Chordata

DIET: Omnivore

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: unknown

SIZE: 2 feet to 7 feet long

WEIGHT: 70 to 1500 pound

1. EVERYONE GETS BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM FRIENDS

Sea turtle eggs incubate for about two months. When the baby turtles are ready to hatch out, they do it in a coordinated effort; this event makes it seem like the sand is boiling, which is why in some areas they call this “turtle boils.” As the little critters run towards the shore, their uniformity in movement makes them move as one. They look more prominent, which averts the onslaught of incoming predators.

There are circumstances in our lives, wherein we have to admit we need someone to help us. A friend whom you know will walk with you all the way towards a shared goal. Friends who celebrate you in your victories and encourage you when you’re at your lowest. Indeed, no man is an island because it’s always much better to share a beautiful island with a good friend.

2. DETERMINATION CAN GET YOU TO YOUR GOAL

From their nest where they were hatched, they need to climb up and reach the ocean.

The hatchlings instinctively follow the downward slope of the seashore, their sights are directed towards the bright light coming from the horizon over the sea.

More often than not, dreams are far from reality, but every step you take, the decisions you make towards it brings you closer. Still, reality bites. Life is definitely not a walk in the park, encountering challenges and struggles are part of it. When you feel like giving up, look unto the horizon — take heart, you’re gonna get there. Just like what famous Dory of Finding Nemo once sang, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…”

3. HEAD TOWARDS THE RIGHT LIGHT

According to studies, sea turtles are in grave threat from light pollution. There is only one goal for hatchlings after emerging from their eggs — the ocean. They are biologically designed to locate the bright light coming from the horizon over the sea, In this millennia, adult female sea turtles go through difficulty in finding the right spot to hatch due to developed beaches and illuminated establishments along the shorelines. And when they do, once the hatchlings search for the guiding light, they would be drawn to the man-made lights, which leads to devastating tragedies. Few nesting ground beaches are aware of these sensitivities in hatchlings’ emergence, they build shades around their lit area as to not directly illuminate the beach and disorient the waddling baby sea turtles.

As human beings, we are designed to find the one true Light that would guide us to the right path. Every time we get disengaged from that genuine guiding Light, we end up pursuing dreams that were not meant for us and leads us to confusion, stress, anxiety, and depression. It endangers our ideas, skills, passion, and even our lives.

4. STRUGGLES ARE DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN YOU

Hatchlings crawl across the sand and try to orient themselves to their surroundings. It is of utmost importance that they complete the distance from their nest to the ocean on their own. That way, they build up the strength needed when they finally reach the ocean, wherein they need to be secure for swimming. Most tourists feel compelled to help, but this would actually incapacitate the hatchlings when they get to the ocean.

When going through painful struggles be of good courage, we would never be given more than we can carry. Picture your pains and hardships as a training session for your next season. Do not hate your challenges, go through it, be strengthened for it will position you perfectly for your next best. 

5. THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT

Well-known fable “The Rabbit and The Turtle” depicts turtles as slowpokes, in film animations, they are always the dude with chill, laid back character. It is a fact that they are not fast-moving animals, their genetic makeup does not require them to be quick in movement. Sea turtles’ are herbivores. There is no need to chase after plants. Once fully developed, the shell on their backs makes them unpalatable for predators, which frees them from the worry of being preyed upon and chased all the time.

It has been studied that their slowness is affected by the rate of their metabolism, while metabolism contributes to speed, it also leads to certain products that can cause accelerated aging. Since turtles experience low metabolism, they produce less unhealthy metabolic products that can lead to physiological depreciation, hence their ability to live longer than many humans. (Source: Blueplanetaquarium.com)

We are living in a fast-paced world where everything is urgent because we are constantly and instantly at need. This kind of lifestyle impacts our health and lifespan. It is essential for human beings to learn life lessons from sea turtles– the cool dudes of the ecosystem, they know how to take things easy.

6. NEVER FORGET WHERE YOU CAME FROM

Once they reach the ocean, there’s no looking back except when it’s time to lay eggs. It is remarkable how these creatures, in the vastness of the ocean they manage to use the Earth’s magnetic field, which gradually changes and remembers the magnetic signature of the beach where they were hatched.

Not all were given a pleasant start, maybe most had to go through unimaginable things to get acknowledgment in this life. It is significant for us to always remember where we started as to not forget all the lessons we acquired along with bruises from our experiences. It made us better people. 

7. LIFE IS A CYCLE

The area where an adult sea turtle lays her eggs is also the place where the babies will go back to do the same thing. It will go on and on for generations to come.

We may not have the same life cycle as the sea turtles, but our life is also a cycle. Knowing that the decisions we make will affect not just us but the generations after ours will help us make better decisions. Good thing for us human beings the course of our lives is in our hands, we can still redirect the foreseeable cycle of our lives. By making better decisions today that will lead to a brighter future.

8. BE WISE

Sea turtles are icons of wisdom because people have always believed that wisdom comes with age. Being creatures who hang around for a long time, it is unavoidable for them to become a totem of wisdom.

Foolish decisions made in youth will make one wiser as a person age. Do not let your past mistakes define who you are and who you will be. As you age, collect wisdom, not regrets.

9. NOTHING IS WITHOUT PURPOSE — YOU HAVE A PURPOSE

Sea turtles play significant roles in the ecosystem from sustaining vibrant coral reef to hauling indispensable nutrients from the oceans to the shorelines and coastal dunes.

The existence of sea turtles has been endangered in many areas around the world due to commercial fishing, diminishing the number of nesting habitat and global warming that leads to climate change. The population of sea turtles is being pushed to the brink of extinction that leads to malfunctions in ocean ecosystems. Lack of purpose makes a man full of potential — powerless. If you’re starting to feel like you have no purpose in this life, think again. You are playing a vital role that no other human being is designed to accomplish. You may not see visible results yet, be patient, keep doing what you are supposed to be doing, you’re living a massive impact maybe not in this generation, but for the generations to come. We are all born for such a time as this because we are precisely what the world needs now.