One of the core values that was instilled in me when I was a kid was the importance of hard work and planning for the future.

I was also taught that choices have consequences and to always think ahead before taking any actions because I would have to live with the results.

My father often pointed out that there is no such thing as a ”free lunch,” emphasizing the idea that even when we think something has happened as a result of "good fortune," most likely there was actually a someone, somewhere who caused that good fortune to happen in our lives.

It didn't just magically drop out of the sky. The example he liked to use was it if you found $100 bill in the street it might be your good fortune, but never forget that somebody somewhere lost a $100 bill. God didn't just create a random $100 bill out of thin air!

Perhaps I was raised in a somewhat old fashioned environment. The way I was taught about life and how to get along in the world — at least in retrospect — seemed to be less about positive guidance then it was about suffering through an endless stream of ”cautionary tales.”

One such that often came up was the Aesop's Fable of “The Grasshopper and the Ants.”

I won't go into great detail, but the ”elevator speech version” goes something along the lines of the ants in their mound are eternally busy and always working and gathering food and storing up for winter, while the grasshopper is always playing and having fun and jumping around and thinking of nothing but having fun in that moment.

When winter comes and it gets cold and the snow starts falling, the ants are warm and cozy in their anthill and have plenty of food stored up, while the grasshopper is still wandering around getting colder and colder and hungrier and hungrier because it had no plan except to enjoy the moment.

In time, the grasshopper finds the ant mound and asks the ants for shelter and food but is turned away by the ants after being told that hunger is the price of not planning ahead and not doing the work.

These days, there's a lot of conversation about ”entitlement” and ”entitlement culture.” If we dissect that a bit, feeling entitled to something simply because you're alive and breathing is akin to stating that you are going to benefit from ”effect” without engaging in ”cause.”

On Taking Life “Seriously”

The interesting thing about this particular fable is that its interpretation tends to depend on who you're talking to, and many different spins have been put on it over the years.

On one side of the argument there are people who believe that this was a criticism of those who essentially “play” all the time and never plan for the future. If you never take anything seriously, and you aren't willing to put in the work, don't expect to get the resulting benefits of planning and hard work.

On the other side of the argument, there are people who insist that this is a criticism of the mean and selfish elements in society; perhaps the "industrial complex;" by refusing the grasshopper shelter and food, the ants represent the uncharitable and uncompassionate ”resource hoarding class” who care about nobody but themselves and their rules — and they don’t know how to relax and have fun.

Of course, the original story was derived at a time when scarcity was the norm, and perhaps it held more significant meaning, at that time.

My personal takeaway ended up being that if you can't even take care of yourself, don't go out in the world trying to take care of others, using resources that are insufficient for yourself.

But then my perception is colored by the experience of life being more selfish than generous.

Entitlement or not, I'm more inclined to subscribe to the idea that choices have consequences.

Whatever path we may choose, and whatever philosophy we may adhere to, there will always be a consequence of some kind.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024-06-28 00:20 PDT
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