I got upset this morning and thought about tortoises

This morning I happened to read something that quite disturbed me. I don't really want to get into the details of it, but it reminded me of the cruelty of the human spirit and the unavoidability of pain in our world. Yet, through these gloomy and frustrating emotions, only one thought came into my mind: tortoises. Why did I think about tortoises? I have yet to figure that out, but here is a list of possible reasons:

• Tortoises, along with turtles, have always been fascinating creatures to me. Perhaps, in my frustration, my mind attempted to settle itself by picturing an animal that it sees as calming and captivating. Surely, were a tortoise to be placed in front of me, I could observe it for quite a long time without being bored, and so, being that they are able to so thoroughly capture my attention in a positive way, my mind implanted in itself an image of a tortoise such that I may be distracted from the upsetting imagery which I had read of. 
• After reading said upsetting thing, I began asking a lot of questions. Why do bad things happen? Is this something intrinsically brought about in people? Are there solutions? Tortoises, as I mentioned, are fascinating creatures, and yet I know awfully little about them. Thus, perhaps somewhere in my internal line of questioning, my curiosity shifted away from the horrific perplexities of the human condition toward perplexities of another species entirely. How did the shells evolve? Do tortoises and turtles recognize each other? Can they communicate? I wonder if I could own a tortoise? These questions hold much less emotional weight, which could likely explain my inclination toward thinking about them rather than more difficult queries. 
• I would be remiss if I didn't mention what I would assume to be the most popular inclusion of a tortoise in the mainstream: the fable of the tortoise and the hare. Now, while this might be a bit of a stretch, hear me out for this explanation. First, I would like you to put yourself in the shoes of the tortoise immediately after finding out that he/she/they is going to have to race on foot against a hare. I'd reckon you'd be fairly upset. The odds are stacked against you, and you'd presumably not have too much faith in yourself to even stand a fighting chance (assuming you understand the physical limitations/capabilities of the respective species involved). That being said, there is something quite admirable about the tortoise even agreeing to race in the first place. Perhaps the tortoise was delusional, and believed that it would be faster than the hare. Perhaps the tortoise knew of the hare's hubris and knew that it would ultimately cost itself the victory. Or, there is my personal favorite option, which is that perhaps the tortoise believed that just participating would be enough. He/she/they was aware that they would almost certainly lose in this race, but, rather than conceding, decided that signing up, participating in, and finishing the race would be worth it, regardless of the outcome. It could go as slow as it wanted/needed to, and that would be ok because if it crossed the finish line, it would have achieved something. Perhaps not a victory in the race, but a victory of the self. Where a more downhearted tortoise may have seen the situation of adversity as a sign to submit oneself to the unwavering and unconquerable challenges of the universe, this tortoise saw an opportunity to prove to the world that, in the face of insurmountable odds, he/she/they did not simply lie down and take the L, but rather, they fought. They fought, regardless of the outcome, because they wanted to tell the world that, win or lose, they would not relent to the perils they saw in front of them. They would persevere, no matter the consequence, because, while the hare could defeat them in competition, it could never defeat them in spirit. As the story goes, the tortoise was rewarded for its courage through not only a moral victory, but also a victory in the race. This is all to say that maybe, just maybe, when faced with the unconscionable horrors of our world, my brain was called to the indominable will of the tortoise, telling me (and hopefully you all after reading this) that no matter the obstacle, we should never cede to adversity, but march with our heads high, as slow and steady as need be, towards a better future and the finish line of a better life.