The Heavy Lifters We Never Notice

Send us Fan MailToday’s topic came to me as I witnessed one of the strangest things this past week, it was definitely a first for me.I came out to get in my car, which is garaged btw, and there were ants all over the front of my car.As I watched them crawl over my car for the 3rd consecutive day, I found myself wondering if you all know why ants exist,  and why fly’s exist?? I know that Most of us don’t have warm and fuzzy feelings toward either one. They give us the ick. They are not nice to look at.Ants invade our spaceandFlies annoy us with their buzzing, and all the gross things they do.But are you aware that  both of them play a very important role in maintaining the eco systems that WE humans depend on? Now, before you wonder what the heck ants and flies have  to do with Lifestyle Medicine, stay with me.This episode isn’t really about insects.It’s about awareness.It’s about appreciation.It’s about learning to recognize the things that quietly support our lives on a daily basis.Sometimes the greatest lessons about health and life come from the most unexpected places,Sometimes they come from an Ant and a Fly.Most of us spend very little time appreciating them.We swat them away.Spray them.And avoid them.Yet both of them perform jobs that are essential to life on Earth.Ants may be tiny, annoying, creepy little things, BUT they are among the hardest workers on the planet.When they are not in your house or on your car, think of ants as tiny gardeners.*Ants spend their lives moving and breaking down organic material through the soil, creating tunnels underground that naturally aerate the Earth. Their tunnels help water penetrate deeper into the ground.Which helps roots growHelps the soil stay healthySome ants disperse seeds which help plants reproduce  and spread- and some ants breakdown dead insects and organic waste (yes poop).Ants support entire ecosystemsFun Fact: Scientists estimate there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on earth.That is roughly 2.5 million ants for every person on earth, just so you know the math is right, I looked it up.The takeaway; don’t worry. EVER. About terminating them, they will replenish… and replenish in a blink of an eye.Flies have the worst public image in the insect world.They always land where we don’t want them too.Just as the ant, flies are also so important they have one of nature’s most important jobs.They clean up.They are one of nature’s recyclers.They help recycle dead plants, animals and organic waste back into the eco system- which returns nutrients back to the soil.- So While flies drive us nuts, we need them, they do very critical work- they keep our ecosystems functioning.Get this.. there are more that 160k known species of flies. And did you know that a lot of these species also pollinate plants? It’s not just Bees. Flies are pollinators too.Both ants and flies are working every day, all day.And both of them contribute far more than most of us realize.With that being said, imagine if they disappeared.Imagine waking up tomorrow and every ant and fly  was gone, of course at first,  it would be great:No antsNo fly’s No annoyanceSounds pretty great until we realize what they took with them. Soil quality would sufferNo flowersDecomposition would slow The food chains would be disrupted.A lot of birds, fish and reptiles would lose an important food source.The effects would ripple through entire eco systems. They would be enormous.This got me to thinking..Just as natures ecosystems depend heavily on ants and flies, our human ecosystem relies heavily on a group of contributors we rarely  notice.The buildersThe Sanitation workersThe Utility workersThe road workersThe people maintaining systems most of us rarely, if ever, think about.Imagine if they disappeared too.It would not take long at all before we found ourselves in a world of hurt.Have you ever thought to yourself, why do we tend to overlook things that contribute so much.The world is sustained by workers-both insect and human- that most of us never notice until their gone.We humans have a funny habit.We don’t really notice what’s working.We notice what’s missing.We enjoy the finished product, but we rarely think about the work that made it possible. We love  our clean waterOur Safe roadsWe love our Comfortable, safe homesOur healthy soilAnd food love food on the table.But we really don’t stop to consider everythingrequired to make those things possible.Maybe that’s because success is often invisible.The better something performs its job, the less attention it receives.Familiarity creates blindness.We don’t overlook important things because they are unimportant. We overlook them because they are familiar.They are there everydayDoing what they have always done.The more consistently something serves us, the less attention we give it.We stop noticing it.We stop appreciating itAnd we begin to expect it.What once felt so remarkable, slowly becomes ordinary. Not because its value has changed, but because we have grown accustomed to it.And the irony of that is.. some of the most important things in our lives become the easiest  to overlook.Not because they’re insignificant- but because they’ve been showing up for us all along.And maybe there is another reason things become ordinary.. Maybe we are just drawn to things that are attractive, pleasant, and easy to admire.We tend to assign value based on appearance rather than contribution.We mistake appearance for importance.And we confuse  attention with contribution.We admire what is visible while overlooking what is useful.The more  I think about ants, flies, rabbits and the people who keep our community running, the more I realizeThat “visibility is not the same as value”Something can be highly visible- receive a lot of attention- and contribute very little to our daily lives…And something else can go completely unnoticed while making life possible.We live in a world that rewards attention.But attention and contribution are not the same thing either..SO many of the things holding our world together operate behind the scenes.Without recognitionWithout applauseWithout anyone noticing at all.I think we have become so focused on what is visible that we have forgotten to appreciate what is valuable.And maybe, that’s the lesson ants and flies have been teaching us  all along…Value isn’t determined by how much attention something receives..Value is determined by the role it plays and the contribution it makes.Just because something is highly visible doesn’t make it important.And just because something goes unnoticed doesn’t make it less valuable. At the end of the day, the things holding our world together are the very things we rarely notice.The truth is, this episode  was never really about ants and flies,They just helped me  illustrate a larger point.A point about perspective.A Point about appreciation.And a point about the countless things that quietly support my life and your life everyday..The more I thought about ants and flies, the more I realized they are not so different than humans.Ants contribute to their eco systemFlies contribute to their eco systemAnd millions of people contribute to the human eco system. …think about your home.. dozens of people contribute to building one home..And we don’t recognize their value until their gone.Let this serve as your reminder… that the world is held together by countless workers operating in the shadows:Some have 6 legsSome wear hard hatsSome drive garbage trucksSome build homesMost receive little to no recognition- yet, without them, everything changes.With that being said, I think that one of the greatest gifts we can develop is appreciation… not just for the amazing things- but for ordinary, behind the scene things that make life possible…The things that keep showing up- that keep working….The things that we assume will always be there.Remember- some of the most valuable things in life are not the most visible… they are just the most reliable.SO next time you see an ant crawling around somewhere it shouldn’t be, or a fly buzzing annoyingly around your head- let them serve as a reminder.. contribution matters..Every eco system- whether natural or human- depends on countless workers doing their part.Today was really about learning to appreciate the things that keep your life running beforeyou discover what life looks like without them.Enjoy!Joanne DemersThe Aging Mask-A Lifestyle Medicine Podcast(949)236-1529Follow along on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/theagingmask