Life Lessons From a Tiny Creature

By Aditee Mitra

Photo: Steve

Definitely like any other usual morning, it is never a surprise for me to spot them but everytime a morsel of food falls or any event takes place on their way,  they are always ready with their group to appear out of nowhere, manage things and vanish. Likewise, whenever  I get irritated when I see them using me as a slide for their venture and I think to scare them off , it seems they spread information like wild fire and help each other  by communicating that someone is coming to catch hold of them & they disappear  within seconds! Yes, you must have  got it by now. I am talking  about that tiny creature which has surely invaded some space in your home/place – ANTS and what we can learn from them. 

Only out of my curious mind to know,  find ,observe & test them ,once I kept my finger on their path and I thought  that it won’t travel further but will definitely  turn back.  Why would they face something that is in complete contrast to their size? To my astonishment, within seconds it made its way. The more I tried blocking  its way, the more they succeeded  in moving on. They just didn’t stop trying! They were not even scared. For a second I wondered  how they are not tired!  

This situation  strikes us a lot, homosapiens in various frames of life. A few blocks on the road and we feel defeated, confusion  surrounds us. Our condition is similar, but our  approach is different. And that makes all the difference! The more I tried to block its way repeatedly,  the more it made its way. Similarly  in life, our approach  to A-Z problems in life in the form of right action  with right intention is what matters and can surely set things right. Of course in life too, we might have setbacks and we might not solve it within seconds like ants but it never means the end of the road. I am reminded  of another anonymous  quote which I often hear : Courage isn’t always a lion’s roar. It is also the silence of ants working patiently,  persistently and never giving up.This is my Learning  Lesson 1 (LL1) from them. 

There is another phenomenon  which we all must have observed -ants doing handshakes everytime. they meet when travelling!  Just imagine us,  doing handshakes  to every fellow homosapiens when we are travelling. We will surely never reach our destination! As a matter of fact,  it is through  their antennae, they communicate for food or for scanning information about members of their colony. Just imagine replacing that handshake with learning we can get from every person- some of them are gifts while others might be a disaster or even from experience we have known life -things become really easy. It sets a different line of clarity.Ants leave behind trails so that other ants can follow up and together they are successful in their work. Same applies to us.

We often find people climbing up big ladders but at the end of the day it is of no use if they rub the lines of their path and scream victory from a mountain. More greater things would have been revealed, discussed and followed in practical if that helping  sense would prevail.  Without sharing,  it must be like discovering something in a well,  jumping in it and covering it by locking it from inside. All gone – leaving no scope for betterment of fellow humans.  Be it knowledge sharing or something  else,  the path must be there for all to grow and learn. Of course, the successful person can only show the way for it is we who have to walk!  This is my LL2 from ants. 

It is no new management lesson that these tiny creatures have borrowed  from B schools – be it planning or control. They have been doing it since ages. We homosapiens definitely can’t control others but  even a little influence in some way or the other impacts a lot. It is more like a chain reaction. Ofcourse ,most of us would  prefer to be influenced by those who practise in the real world than those with mere words,  but even a little influence goes a long way. Their efficient way of managing everything -be it looking after queen ants, assigning jobs to other ants, gathering resources,  they excel in all! This way they are also teaching fellow ants to work in this manner.  Their proper plan with fine execution  is worth observing for all of us. For most of us,  planning gives such immense satisfaction  that we often fail to execute the plans. Maybe next time,  we should follow the ANT-way!  Their combination of planning + control+ proper execution +influence is what I take as LL3 ! 

As Jim Rohn has rightly mentioned, ” THE ANT PHILOSOPHY -Never give up,  look ahead,  stay positive  and do all you can” is what we can think next time we cross these tiny creatures!  

Aditee Mitra is a student, currently pursuing her Bachelors. She is inclined towards writing and a few more things.  The writer is reachable at aditeewrites@gmail.com

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