Dear Spain,

For a long time I have wanted to shorten your name to Ant.  For a couple of reasons actually.  First, an ant can carry 50 times it's body weight while gathering food for the winter (ants live in the ground and when the ground is covered with snow, their food source is gone so they have to stay alive by collecting food during the warmer months otherwise they will starve to death in the colder months when no food is available).  Second, ants do not have a leader.  Each ant knows it's place in the colony and knows what is expected of them and can work in conjunction with the other ants in the colony to accomplish the massive task of collecting food for the winter.  By itself the ant would probably not be able to collect enough food for itself during the summer months and then extra for the winter months, but because of the great number that a colony has, all the ants survive because each does what it is uniquely and individually designed to do.

And so you are.  The past few months, several months, you have carried the weight, 50 times what others in your shoes have carried.  You have faced trial, disappointment, and injury.  And for these 'summer months' you have endured more than has been asked of you in the beginning.  But in light of the trials, and your handling them with grace, you are able to endure the winter months that lie ahead, months that food will be largely unavailable and scarce.  You have and will survive, not because you have done this alone, but because you have become part of a colony.  Even though you could not make it until June, the colony has made absolutely certain that you will indeed survive past all trails that winter will bring.  You have wool socks, a warm winter jacket, and most importantly, you have people that have never stopped praying for your success.  

So next summer, when food and energy has run low and you are back to collecting, rest assured that whether or not you collect food till the very last day Ant, you will survive.  You only need to expect the best out of yourself, even if the best is simply getting out of bed in the morning and brushing your teeth.  You need to be satisfied that this is your best and your best is enough.  If you go to bed or rest for the winter and look at the stock that you have brought in and you think to yourself that this was not your best effort, then — AND ONLY THEN — can you or I allow you to be disappointed in yourself.  You have put forth, what I believe is, your best effort in the past several months.  You have endured trials, disappointments, and injury and you came out of it knowing a lot more about yourself than you ever imagined.  You will realize in the coming months and years just how much you have grown and how much this has changed you.  

So as you start this next season of your life and you go back to all that is the same while the core of you has changed, remember that the set of expectations for you needs to be determined only by what is considered to be your best Ant.  How much you carry?  And then, leave the rest of the food for the rest of the colony to carry, we all have our own unique and individual portion to bring in.  If you bring in too much or a portion that is not yours, well, you know what happens.

Love always, 

Fiji, America, Korea, and the rest of the UN.