 |
| Henry Ossawa Tanner - The Young Sabot Maker 1895 |
A Grasshopper frolicked while an Ant stored food for the winter. When winter came the Ant was comfortable; the Grasshopper not so.
Prepare for the future.
AESOP
Happiness cannot be found in the world and in worldly things. I have known this truth for my entire life and explains why I have always been an ant by temperament. Happiness can be found only in God. I haven't always known this truth, but I have known where happiness wasn't. Happiness wasn't in chasing hedonistic pleasures and material things. Though I knew this, the rest of the world did not get the memo on this. These are the grasshoppers.
 |
| The Ant and the Grasshopper by Charles H. Bennett 1857 |
I wondered to myself when I became an ant, but I realize that I have always been an ant. I have also searched my memory bank to recall if I ever knew of anyone who was a grasshopper who became an ant. I can't remember any such conversions to the ant lifestyle. I am convinced that the ant vs. grasshopper thing comes down not to life experiences but temperament. Grasshoppers seek happiness in pleasures and possessions. Ants seek happiness in thoughts and activities.
That fundamental difference in temperament is why grasshoppers can never become ants. Conversely, ants can become grasshoppers, but this usually happens through association until the ant wises up and cuts ties with the grasshopper. Never date a grasshopper.
 |
| Waiting for a Bite, Central Park, John George Brown. 1886 |
Grasshoppers believe in material happiness while ants believe in kinetic happiness. An ant likes to go fishing. A grasshopper likes to buy a new rod and reel and a boat. The ant takes more enjoyment from a simple cane pole while the grasshopper grows bored with it all fairly quickly necessitating another frivolous and wasteful purchase.
Ants enjoy life more than grasshoppers. This is a secret, and it is one that grasshoppers and merchants are desperate to keep secret. Living and doing will always be better than buying and spending. This is common sense. You can't buy living and doing anymore than buying ropes and carabineers will make someone a rock climber.
There will always be a material dimension to the ant's activities and kinetic lifestyle. You have to buy or borrow a book to read a book. But does it matter if it is a rare first edition printing or a yellowed paperback from a thrift store? None of these considerations disturb the ant while the grasshopper is desperate to prove that the increased outlay of money has heightened their enjoyment and experience. Then, that needs to be validated by your envious audience on Facebook.
t
Grasshoppers are incredibly stupid. They live paycheck to paycheck, and do nothing to prepare for the troubles in life. If they get out of their troubles, they have an amazing ability to get right back into those troubles. This is why ants would be wise to leave the grasshoppers to their folly. You can't change them. Don't let them change you.
Thank you for reading!
 |
| Ada Thilen - Girl Reading in a Landscape 1896 |
