Once upon a time, there was a busy little ant who was well-known for his work ethic. Day in and day out, he would scurry around gathering food for the winter, never taking a break or slowing down.
One day, as he was crawling up a hill with a heavy load on his back, he came across a group of grasshoppers who were singing and dancing. Curious, the ant asked them why they weren’t working like he was. The grasshoppers looked at him in surprise and said, “We’re enjoying life, my friend. We work hard too, but we also take time to rest and play.”
The ant was stunned. He had never thought about resting or playing before. He had always believed that working hard was the key to a successful life.
As the days went by, the ant couldn’t help but think about what the grasshoppers said. He started feeling tired and burned out. His load seemed heavier than before, and he had no energy left to enjoy life.
One day, as he was crossing a stream, he slipped and fell into the water. In a panic, he tried to swim back to shore, but his heavy load pulled him under. He realized then that all his hard work had left him with no time to learn how to swim.
The ant struggled to the surface, gasping for air, and he saw the grasshoppers singing and dancing on the other side of the stream. They beckoned him over, and he realized that he had been missing out on life all along.
From that day on, the ant learned to balance his work and play. He still worked hard, but he also took breaks to rest, relax, and enjoy life. And he lived happily ever after.
True to the story above, in the month of May, I’ve had conversations with myself about balance – that one thing we all crave for. When we have too much work, we want to rest and if we are sitting idle on any given day, we want to be productive.
I’ve had conversations with other women who have felt the same way. Sitting simply is equated to being lazy and hence the need to keep moving at all times. But inspiration strikes when you can sit simply without doing anything and let random thoughts float to you.
This can be hard for a lot of us. So, this month, I took on a challenge to attend four to five yoga classes every week. I am proud to say that this has become a way of life for me. Some days, I haven’t felt like going to a class, but then I asked myself ‘Do I not eat because I don’t feel like eating?’ Our brains are weird like that. So, whatever I needed to do to convince myself to get moving, I did.
This is not just about moving my body. Going there and listening to the instructors talk about the mind, mindset, and spirituality from various religions and how yoga is not just about moving the body but being aware of the sensations, thoughts and feelings that arise when you twist and turn in a pose – that’s the kind of movement my body likes. I also get inspiration from this activity and it has sort of become an addiction. I call it ‘Yogaddiction’!
The one declaration I made in May is to “Be Bold and Play Big”.
Book I’m reading
I received Michelle Obama’s latest book (The Light we carry) as a gift and am only a few pages into it. But I already know that this book is going to be an exploration of my life journey – the emotions, the highs and lows, what works in my life and what tweaks I can do to make it better and last but not least, how everything I do can be significant (in my own way and just to me as a person). So, if you are curious, grab a copy.
Challenge for the month
If you are up for the challenge, then find one way for letting yourself be inspired and practice more of it in June. If you want someone to hold you accountable, reach out to me. Together, we can all inspire each other.
That’s a wrap from me for this month. If any of this resonated with you or you have something to share (any aha’s or your reflections for the month), I would love to hear from you.
