Once, not long ago, in a town not much different from yours, there lived a little girl named Lulu. She had big blue eyes and curly blonde hair, which she liked to tie with a ribbon into the tiniest little ponytail on the back of her head.
She lived in a big house with two windows on each side of the front door that made it look like a happy face, with the steps leading to the porch as the smile. There were many old trees in the yard. They protected the house and gave Lulu branches to climb on and supported an old tire to swing on. There was always something fun to do in Lulu’s yard.
Many times Lulu had to play by herself. She had a baby brother whose name was Barry, and he was so small that her parents were always taking care of him. Lulu didn’t mind, really. She knew that someday Barry would be older and not need so much attention.
Right now, he was just a baby and needed to be taken care of by her parents. Besides, she enjoyed playing by herself. There were so many interesting things to discover.
On one lazy afternoon, Lulu lay in the front yard and watched the clouds drift by. She made a game of imagining that the clouds were actually a circus going by.
She could see elephants and tigers and clowns, and even a beautiful woman on a flying trapeze.
She was having the most wonderful time, when suddenly she felt something crawling on her arm. She looked down and there was an ant.
Lulu smiled and said, “Oh, it’s just a little ant.”
When the ant heard this, he became angry and crossed his tiny little arms across his chest and snapped, “Pffff! Well, you’re just a little girl!”
Lulu felt sorry for what she’d said and apologized. “I’m sorry, little ant. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I’m sure that you’re a very important ant.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” he replied. “People always think we’re all the same. I just get a little tired of hearing it.
Whenever we go to people’s picnics or are wandering through their homes, we always hear the same thing: ‘Ants!’ People don’t realize that we’re all different, just like you are.”
Lulu liked the little ant. She leaned down closer and said, “You’re a nice little ant. Tell me some more.”
The little ant was so happy to talk with a new friend. “We’re building a city under the ground called CincinnANTi,” he told her.
“I have a big rock to move, only you’re in my way. I was gonna tickle your ear so that you might move.”
Lulu got up quickly and offered, “I can help you move the rock. I’m very strong.”
The little ant was so pleased. He quickly crawled back to where he had left his rock and said, “Here it is! Can you lift this?”
The rock was very, very small to Lulu. In fact, it was more like a large grain of sand. She carefully pinched the rock between her fingers and moved it to where he wanted it. The ant was so happy.
“You would make a wonderful ant,” he said. “Won’t you come and live with me? Why, with you working with us, we’d have our city built in no time!”
Lulu smiled at the ant. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t fit in your city. It’s so much smaller than I am. I just couldn’t be an ant.”
The little ant looked puzzled. “But why can’t you?” he asked. “In my city we have a little song that we sing all the time. It goes like this:
You can be what you want to be, you can do what you want to do, you can be what you want to be, all of life supports you.”
“That’s a funny little song,” Lulu giggled, “but what does it mean?”
“It means that we may all be different, but we each have the power within us to do wonderful things with our lives,” the little ant explained. “You can do what you want to do. There’s nothing to stop you.”
“I like to dance,” Lulu said. “I’d love to be a ballerina.”
“You can if you want,” the little ant told her.
Lulu looked down at her new friend and said sadly, “I don’t think so. My mother took me to a dance class, and the teacher said that my legs were too skinny and that I wouldn’t make a good ballerina.”
The little ant stomped his tiny foot as loud as a little ant can stomp it. “If you want to be a ballerina, you can be a ballerina!” he shouted. “Let me show you a little trick. It starts in your mind.”
Lulu sat straight up and listened carefully to what the little ant said.
“We’re going to play a game. Begin by imagining yourself in the most beautiful theater in the world.”
Lulu shut her eyes and suddenly in front of her she could see herself in the most beautiful theater she could imagine.
“Now,” the little ant continued, “see yourself dancing onstage. You’re the prettiest and most graceful ballerina there ever was. Can you see it?”
Lulu could see it. She was so excited that she almost opened her eyes, but she wanted the feeling to last forever. There she was on the stage, dancing beautifully—even if her legs were still a little skinny. Slowly, her vision faded and she opened her eyes. “I saw it!” she cried. “I was so beautiful and dancing so gracefully! Oh, thank you! I just know that I can become a wonderful ballerina if I want to!” And then she frowned.
“But I also like horses,” Lulu said. “Could I become a horseback rider in the circus?”
“Of course you can,” her tiny pal replied. “If that’s what you truly want, then you’ll find a way to get it. Just play this imagination game.”
Lulu closed her eyes and imagined herself standing atop a majestic white horse as it galloped around the ring of the circus. She felt so happy. But then she frowned again.
“But I also like to help people when they’re sick,” Lulu explained. “Do you think I could become a doctor?”
“You can do that, too, if you want to,” the little ant affirmed.
Lulu imagined herself working in a lovely doctor’s office helping people get well. She became very excited. “There really are so many things I can do, aren’t there?!” she exclaimed.
The little ant smiled a great big smile. “Of course there are. Just remember: Whenever you feel that you can’t do something, imagine yourself doing it. Your thoughts are very powerful. They can make so many good things happen for you. Sometimes it takes a little while, but it will happen if you really want it. And also, sing my little song to yourself all the time. It will help remind you that nothing is impossible.” And he sang once more:
“You can be what you want to be, you can do what you want to do, you can be what you want to be, all of life supports you.”
“Now I have to get back to work,” the little ant said.
Lulu smiled down at her new friend. “Thank you for talking to me. I really had a wonderful time. Can we talk again?”
“Of course we can,” the little ant smiled. “I’d invite you to dinner, but you wouldn’t fit in my house. Perhaps we can have a picnic. We ants love people picnics. You can bring the food.”
“That would be fun!” Lulu agreed. And with that, the little ant scurried back into the little hole in the ground to get back to work.
It had been a lovely afternoon. The warm breeze played with Lulu’s hair, then raced through the leaves in the trees. In the distance, Lulu could hear her baby brother, Barry, making the gurgly sounds that only babies know how to make.
Her mother came out to the front porch and called, “Lulu, come in now. It’s time for dinner!”
Lulu got up off the ground, dusted herself off, and happily headed toward the house while singing the song that the little ant had taught her:
“I can be what I want to be, I can do what I want to do, I can be what I want to be, all of life supports me.”