Your Better Self with Akanna: Go To the Ant, You Sluggard!

Ordinarily, no one would think of stooping so low as to learn something from ants.  I mean, there’s the bold lion, the soaring eagle, the swift leopard and all other glorious animals to learn from; but the ant? What could we possibly learn from them?

Well, it turns out there’s quite a bit to pick up from these tiny creatures.  In fact, one of the wisest kings ever to rule a kingdom advised “sluggards” to go learn from the ant, consider her ways (because, of course, she’s female) and become wise.

Now, what wisdom can we learn from them?  Recently, I was listening to an instructional audio where the speaker referenced the “Ant Philosophy”.  He highlighted 4 things we could pick up from the ant, apply to our lives and become wise and hugely successful as a result.

1. The Ant Never Gives Up.  When I was a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed watching ants travel along the walls.  They would do so in a straight line.  Occasionally, I would put my finger in between to obstruct their travel.  Each ant would go up, down and around my finger; around the obstacle and then get back in line to continue on its journey.

It seemed like all they had in mind was their destination, their end goal, and they realized that obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your goals.

Ants are unstoppable! They are goal oriented.

2. They Think Summer All Winter.  Ants know that winter doesn’t last forever.  As a matter of fact, they’ve prepared for it and are just waiting it out with the supplies they’ve stored up.  Their minds are stayed on the beauty of summer and they know for sure that no matter how dark and cold winter may be, no matter how much sorrow there is throughout the night; summer will always come with all of its beauty, just as joy comes in the morning!

Ants stay positive!  They have a positive mental attitude that takes them through trying times.

3. They Think Winter All Summer.  Just like ants know that winter won’t last long, they know that summer won’t either.  So, what do they do?  They prepare so that they don’t have to repair.  It’s like they live in the perfect Game of Thrones life with the mantra: “Winter is coming!”

Ants understand seasons. They know that things aren’t always going to be the same.  There are ups and downs, good times and bad, seed time and harvest, summer and winter. They know that when things seem to be going well in your life, you should remember that they won’t always be that way.  So, store up some of that good –write them down, journal, save some of that money, take some good pictures, keep the contact cards of those new acquaintances –because when the tough times come, and they will, you can always go back to those contacts, those pictures, those savings, those articles, that journal and get your hopes stirred up; that just like the winter surely came, summer will come again.

Ants plan ahead! They take advantage of surplus times by banking up enough for times of shortage.

Lastly, while ants prepare for winter in the summer, they store food and they don’t approach this task lightly.  In fact, each ant carries food that’s many times its size and it drags the food into their anthill to store up for winter.  You would think that each ant would take what it can carry, but no, it carries more than it can take because the collective effort of all of them means that there will be more than enough for everyone.

They understand that sometimes in life, you have to bite more than you can chew because there are many others hoping on doing the chewing with you.  If you don’t strive hard and only do enough to take care of yourself and maybe your immediate family, then you’re not really of much use to society.

4. Ants Gather All They Possibly Can for winter.  They do whatever it takes, for however long it takes so they can have more than enough to go round everyone during the season of lack.  They work together as a team with the knowledge that together, everyone achieves more.

Ants are hard workers, but they also know to what end they are working hard.

So, what wisdom can we learn from the ants?  Well, first we have to have set goals and know what we’re working towards.  Then stay focused on those goals and never give up –be unstoppable!  Then we need to cultivate a positive mental attitude –stay positive during trying times because they don’t last forever, plan ahead, and do all we possibly can!

When we get all these down, and consistently apply them in our daily lives, we would eventually become just as wise as that female ant that the wise king mused about!