Parable of… The Lazy Ant

Written by

Jeffrey S. Martella

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• In the backyard of the big red house there was an ant colony. Every ant in the colony worked hard…except Albert.

• Albert was a lazy ant. He never collected dirt or food for the colony. He never helped repair the tunnels when they collapsed. He spent most of his time watching other ants work.

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• Albert liked to pretend he was in charge. He would order ants about from his favorite sunning rock. But no one paid attention to him.

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• One day there was a huge rain storm. All the ants dived for cover under their leaf umbrellas. Albert didn’t have a leaf and got soaked in the rain.

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• Another time there was a feast from picnic food. The colony of ants marched out to find food. Like a drill sergeant Albert ordered a regiment to bring him some food. The ants ignored him and Albert went hungry.

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• The tunnel around Albert collapsed one day. Albert didn’t know how to dig himself out. He was stuck for three days until some of the other ants cleared the tunnel.

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• Albert was miserable. No one listened to him. He was hungry. And he hurt.

• One day a wise old ant came up to Albert.

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• He looked Albert up and down and shook his head. “Sonny, you have a BIG problem. You are so self-centered that no one wants to be around you. You are only interested in yourself.

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• If you want to be accepted you have got to be part of the team. You have to put others ahead of yourself. You’ve got to work, work, work. Then you will be accepted, listened to, liked and will never go hungry.

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• Albert followed the wise old ant’s advice.

• When it rained Albert sought shelter under his own leaf.

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• When there was a picnic feast Albert helped gather the food and found more than he could eat.

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• When a tunnel collapsed, Albert was the first rescuer to the site.

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• Other ants came to regard Albert as the best ant in the colony. The other ants listened to his advice, looked up to him and even did small favors for him because they knew that he was a hard worker and would return favors.

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• Albert became the most popular ant in the colony.

• THE END