The Ant and the Wing: Keep Trying

Any visitor to Lesvos Island, or to any Greek island for that matter, is prone to spend hours and hours doing exactly nothing.  Daydreaming, contemplating, and just being are acceptable activities.

In a sunlit courtyard, I stared at an ant for an hour.  Yup.  An hour.  How beautiful to have an hour to stare at an ant, eh?  This particular ant was a little professor, providing inspiration.

This ant had a big load — an entire moth’s wing.  Struggling with his heavy prize, it took the ant 15 minutes to cross just a meter of stony ground.  Just as the ant nearly finished the journey, a strong wind would catch the wing, sending the ant and wing right back to the starting point.  This happened four times.

When you have lofty goals and dreams, like this ant, the burden can be heavy.  Your sail (or wing in this case) makes you a target for winds.  With such a big sail, you are more exposed to failure or setbacks than someone with no sail.  You may really struggle for your big reward.  You may get thrown back repeatedly.  But if you keep trying, like this ant, eventually, you can bring it home.

The ant who inspired this post.  Thanks ant.