The Ant Vs The Fly.
As it started to warm up, there has been an increase in ants and flies. Naturally , I began to think about why ants and flies are so different-not in the way an entomologist thinks about bugs, but more in a mental way and how differently they interact with the world around them. Then I shifted my perspective and considered how some people in my life could more accurately be characterized as either an ant or a fly . If you think about ants, they live in a rigid framework of society that dictates their lives from the very beginning, much like a child growing up with military parents. This ingrained discipline creates the best workers; they listen well, walk straight, and do everything with intent and purpose. On the other hand, you have limited structure and ultimate freedom; this does not create the best workers, but it creates this whirling, buzzing, out-of-the-lines creature. What it lacks in purpose and drive, it makes up for with great vision and the means to find its own path . The fly doesn't need direction; all it needs is space to operate and time to figure things out. The best example that comes to mind is the people you went to high school with. The valedictorian is more akin to the ant, while the intelligent slacker is more akin to the fly. The valedictorian is very much an A to B type of thinker: do well on my assignments, get a good GPA, go to a good college, get a good job. There is nothing wrong with that type of thinking, but it requires long-term planning and discipline . On the other side, you have the slacker, who, while smart, lacks a system to encourage discipline and long-term thinking. However, they often find themselves in passions that require more creativity and less linear thinking. The slacker does just enough to graduate, focuses more on passions than assignments, bounces around until they find their niche, and paves their own way. It all boils down to the environment you are raised in and what the individual gravitates toward . Neither is bad; it's just what you are inclined to value . If you look around, you can observe where people fall on the spectrum of ants versus flies .