Yesterday I was picking a few cherry tomatoes from our garden and noticed something pretty strange I wanted to share with you.

It’s actually a pretty strong lesson I learned about being healthy.

Our garden (I should say – my husband’s garden) is an elevated bed made from railroad ties and carted in topsoil. I stood on one of the ties and look into our yard – the horribly dry, brown, southern sun and heat destroyed yard – and caught a glimpse of something on the ground moving about.

I took a closer look a saw a line of literally hundreds of ants making a trek from our garden to somewhere several feet away.

I watched more intently and noticed that this line that probably spanned a good 15 feet was full of ants – all carrying quite a heavy load for their tiny little bodies. Every single ant was holding something (I never could quite figure out what) over his head that was at least as big as he was.

They all followed in line – right behind each other, navigating the same obstacles the same way, taking the same path, ending up at the same destination.

I was pretty taken aback by this whole thing.

First of all because I don’t want all these dag-gone ants in my yard.

But, also because of three pretty big lessons those ants taught me about being healthy.

You can’t do it all by yourself.

Yes – YOU are ultimately responsible for your health and for the choices you make! No one can make the right choices for you, and no one can force you to do anything (helpful or detrimental) to effect your health.

But – it’s a whole lot easier when you have other people helping you out.

Those ants carried a TON of whatever it was they were carrying because they all chipped in and helped each other out. Imagine how hard it would have been for one ant to make the number of trips back and forth it would have required to move all of that stuff on her own.

It’s important to surround yourself with people who are on the same journey as you and want to help you reach your goals.

You are stronger than you think.

A quick internet search shows that ants can carry up to 5,000 times their weight. Now, we obviously cannot do that because we’re structured completely different, but I bet you’d be surprised.

We are all too quick to come up with excuses for why we can’t do something…

“I’m too overweight.”
“I’m too old.”
“I’m too young.”
“I’ve got this old injury.”
“I’ve never been very athletic.”
“I don’t like to __________.”

Maybe none of those ring a bell with you, but I bet you’ve got your own favorites up your sleeve (I know I do!).

HEAR ME!

You are stronger than you think!

You can do way more than you give yourself credit for!

God has gifted you with the ability to thrive – don’t throw that away because of some tired excuse!

Small steps still get you where you’re going.

Those ants were tiny, and couldn’t move very far, very quickly, but they were moving.

They didn’t give up until they got where they were going. They stuck with it, carrying their load, until they reached their goal. A few of them strayed off course from time-to-time, but they got back on track and kept taking small steps.

The same is true for you.

As long as you are moving forward, you are getting closer to your goals.

Even a small step is better than no step at all.

When you keep moving, you won’t become stagnant. No matter how small or big the effort, movement forward will get you there.

So, next time you’re in your yard, see if you can find some ants. Watch them at work, and remember that your journey to a healthier you is just one small step away.

Your DoAhead Friend,