LESSON 5- I WORK HARD TO REACH MY GOALS

 A. Being industrious means that one is able to work hard, diligently, energetically, and with determination. It means attending to an important mission and responsibility. There is no moment wasted when one is industrious. On the other hand, discipline works best with industriousness. Being disciplined means developing greater control over one’s priorities and concerns, thus maximizing one’s potentials and skills. Couple these with excellent time-management and work is finished as scheduled, if not ahead of schedule, and the work is certain to be of the highest quality.

                            The Ant and the Grasshopper

Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow. All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

             The grasshopper would look at her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say. 'Come, rest awhile, and listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labor and

toil?' The ant would ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you are!'

He would call after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!'

And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.

           Summer faded into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and

grey, the nights were long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall.

           The grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to protect himself from the snow, and nothing to eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no food.

'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?' wailed the grasshopper. Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully. 'Here I am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, whileyou get me some food from that ladder of yours!'

              The ant looked at the grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!' And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face. It is wise to worry about tomorrow, today.

Source: The Ant and the Grasshopper – Long long time ago (www.longlongtimeago.com>from-aesop)

         Put yourselves in the situation of both the ant and the grasshopper. Answer the questions as if you were the ant and then as if you were the grasshopper. Express your answers from both the ant’s or grasshopper’s perspective.

  1. How did you feel when you were working hard while the grasshopper was singing and dancing?

2. How did it feel to be prepared for winter?

3. What did you think about the grasshopper when he was asking for help?

4. Don’t you feel bad that you did not allow the grasshopper to have some food? Why?

5. Isn’t worrying about tomorrow causing a lot of stress and tension? Explain.