“A Trail of Ants”
If anyone has ever had to deal with ants, you know there is a frustration involved. I have had ants in my yard and when I deal with one mound another one pops up in another part of the yard. I have had to deal with ants in the house and in the garage. One day it seems like everything is fine and then you walk in to notice a trail of ants. I’m starting to think that Bebe’ Kids was talking about ants when they said, “We don’t die we multiply!” I always wonder how some of the smallest creatures can cause the biggest problems and the biggest anxiety. When you see ants it causes you to think how many and where did they come from? One of the greatest life lessons comes from ants, and that is, where there is a trail it always lead to something! The other week I kept seeing a trail of ants in the garage as I got into my vehicle. I would walk past them and get in and out of my vehicle daily for a week. Finally, I stopped and said let me see where these ants are going. I moved some items around and BOOM! There it is! There was a small piece of food that was hidden under some loose items. For a week they have been having a trail to get to that item and I didn’t even know it was there. From the surface it was just a trail of ants, but once there was an inspection it led to the source. There are a few life lessons we can learn from ants.
- Ants are very team oriented. They travel in packs. You normally don’t see just one ant. They always work together and build mounds TOGETHER! As human creatures we tend to have a “I got mine…you get yours” mentality. We won’t come together to build something BIGGER THAN OURSELVES!
- Ants are determined. If you notice that when you destroy one mound…another one comes up in the near future. I sometimes get so frustrated and wonder do they call in other ants? Is this the repass of the ants that I just killed? How do they move and build from one location to the next? In life we should never give up on our focus and dreams. We must be determined that if one mound is destroyed, pick up the pieces and continue to press on in the midst of destruction.
- Ants are brave. As small as ants are, they will climb and do the unthinkable. The other day I didn’t notice I had ants in my bathroom and when I noticed them, one had crawled up to my thigh. There was no hesitation and it didn’t take a long time. He or she had made the journey a long way even when faced with a gigantic obstacle. When faced with gigantic obstacles in our lives we must be brave enough to face whatever is in front of us. Now, the end of the life of that ant happened on my thigh but I did admire its toughest and being brave.
- Ants are smart and aware. Ants have an uncanny way of finding food, dead bugs and other items to pile up on even when it is in areas that are not accessible. My son left food in his room at his mother’s house and he said that when he came home it was full of ants. How did the ants know he left food? How did they get through the framework and walls of the house to find the food? Do ants have a spy that just wait on us to leave something out? I have so many questions. I will however say that we could learn from how smart and aware ants are when it is something they desire or need.
As I close out this little blog (no pun intended) the bible even speaks of ants in Proverbs 30:25, “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer” I have no choice but to admire ants for their tenacity, strength and determination. I admire their teamwork. I still can’t stand them…but I do admire their characteristics. Doesn’t change the fact that I will still fight the good fight with spray and ant mound destroyer. Be blessed!
Michael O. Oyedokun II