At approximately 20:40, while inspecting our small vegetable garden, I first noticed a small but thick concentration of ants in one of the south corners of the soil. I stepped back and detected another mass flanking me on the opposite end near the herbs. In horror, I observed another unit of ants climbing the trellis built to support our tomatoes. In shock, my children and I looked to see that the grass under our sandals was crawling with armies of ants storming toward our vegetables. They had gone unnoticed up until this point. When I had inspected the garden that morning, there were no apparent signs of an attack. They had taken us by surprise and caught me off guard. The invasion was well underway. The Ants went marching by the thousands...hurrah, hurrah

At 20:45, I formally declared War upon the Ants and began consulting my advisors (google) on how to push back the invading forces of Formicidae. With great haste, I drew up a battle plan to route the storming army at critical points where I could see them emerging from the ground.

My counter-offensive measures began with a bombardment of hot-brewed coffee grounds at staging areas where I could see the ants amassing before they marched up the planter and into the garden bed. The bombs were effective, and the ants immediately began to scatter. At approximately 21:30, I declared a cease-fire and ended my bombing campaign when it appeared the ants were in retreat.

At 0700 the following day, I surveyed the battlefield. It appeared that the enemy had been driven back while leaving key infrastructure unharmed and intact. The battle had been won. The Ant horde had been pushed back!

Here's the takeaway. I am new to gardening, which has added much value to my life over the last two summers. I was so upset to see my garden being invaded by the ants because my small vegetable garden brings me a great sense of peace in the morning. Two months of work potentially undone in less than 12 hours! The vegetables are lovely, but I love watering and weeding. I enjoy seeing friendly, hard-working worker bees visiting to help cross-pollinate the plants. My garden is a small oasis of calm that my family and I have come to value in our urban life. The sudden blitz attack threatened that peace. I'm glad I responded quickly and deliberately in order to keep the garden alive. Based on what I saw, I believe that if I had not confronted the invasion as early as I did, the ants would have destroyed the vegetable garden and consumed my front yard.

If your peace is threatened by something you weren't expecting, be deliberate about addressing it before things get out of control. This could be your mental or physical health. Maybe it's the culture of your business or any organization you're a part of. If something is not right and it is disrupting the health of whatever brings you contentment, take action to deal with it before it worsens. Like gardening, peace needs tending. You may want to talk it out with a friend or seek out some expert advice or journal. You may want to do something that helps you view the problem differently, like ask yourself, “How does this problem see me?” or, “How will I feel about this problem 1 year from now?”

My experience has been that a solution is usually closer than I think in the moment.

It's been a few days now, and everything appears to be normal, but I'll be watching...

Friend, thank you for reading. May you enjoy peace in whatever you're up to this week.