Consider the ways of the Ant!

Solomon, the third and last king of the united nation of Israel also known as the wisest man that ever lived wrote “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provision in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”

I read this verse, not for the first time however that day I was prompted to find out what Solomon’s counsel meant? not because I was a sluggard (lazy) but because I was curious. What could we learn from these creatures? This summer I took action to consider the ways of the ant. I am sure my neighbors were wondering what on earth I was doing each day outside, well now they know…

What can we learn:

After observing a colony of ants for a few days, I walked away intrigued and in total agreement that as human beings there are so many lessons that we can learn and embrace just by watching the ant. It is definitely good counsel to learn from these tiny creatures as they have so many qualities that if we implement in our daily lives, we would be so much better for it.

Ants are excellent in strategic planning; they plan and look ahead to the future.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to observe them and see.

They know that winter is coming and they need to prepare for it, so they collect and store their food during the good seasons, when there is an abundant supply. Thus, ensuring that when the season is bad and there is no food, they have enough to sustain them through the hard times.

Note to us Humans – (1) Plan ahead, it is certain as night follows day, winter is coming. It maybe spring, summer or fall in your life today but don’t ever lose sight that for certain a time of scarcity, despair, cold and dreariness is a few seasons away. Let’s stop the GoFundMe mentality (2) Be strategic, identify your overall long-term goals, interests and the means of achieving them.

These small insects are great examples of unity, teamwork and community. Each team member appears to be valued and contribute based on abilities. Oftentimes they need the support of the entire team to accomplish a specific goal and you can see them rallying together to take care of some monumental task that would be too hard for one of them.

They are very devoted, attentive to the task at hand and very good at collaboration, they demonstrate a can-do attitude and ants exemplify what it means to be self-motivated.

Ants working together are the perfect example for us humans to follow. It’s not by happenstance that Solomon counsels the lazy person “sluggard” to consider the ways of the ant because they are very diligent and hardworking. They work from daybreak to sun-down on their assigned mission. It’s actually quite fascinating to observe them carrying out their tasks, truly amazing.

Note to us Humans – (1) No burnout in the Ant World. The queen runs her colony with a plan for seasons of work and of rest. (2) Ants teach us the value of diligence and hard work (3) They model the habits of great team work (the ant that searches for food saves food in its stomach to feed the ones that stay behind to tend to their duties of the nest) (4) They are Self-motivated (There is no one whipping the ant in line to do their duties and carry out their work instead they work for the common-good of the ant community)

So, what are the takeaways from our lesson from the ant? Be industrious, don’t make excuses for your limitations (they don’t say, o we are too small) they just get the job done no matter the size of the job or the location. Be wise, optimize your skills, time and resources to accomplish the desired outcome. Know the importance and value of diligence and hard-work, there is no reward in being lazy, it just causes one to have lack and apathy in life.

Like the ant let’s not procrastinate or make excuses, but be very disciplined, have good organization skills, be a team player (you achieve more by working together than by yourself), be a self-starter, self-motivated, have a can-do attitude, ensure a work life balance (schedule a time for rest and time for work) and plan ahead for your future so that when scarcity happens, which is a certainty you will have enough to tide you over.

So Yes! For sure, Let’s Consider the ant.