There was a great deal of commotion in the colony. It was the anniversary of the Queen and all the ants had gathered together in order to plan a magnificient celebration.

Besides rides and food there would be all kinds of contests. The soldier ants naturally wanted contests of strength and skill , the worker ants wants contests in architecture and road building and of course the women wanted a fashion show and a talent contest.

The most important contest however was open to all ants regardles of position. It would be a Judgement contest. Each ant would be asked one question and their written answer would be read out loud on the day of the contest. The question is: Define Judgement and show its practical application. All the ants read this in amazement and nodded their approval.

What's Judgement, Mommy? asked Jennifer. What do you think it is, dear?, repied the mother. Oh I guess It's something rather important for there to be such commotion about it, don't you think? I guess so, said the Mother. Why don't you enter the contest and find out for yourself?

With that Jennifer resolved to enter the contest. She went to the library and boy was she surprised. There were so many books on judgement and definitions in the dictionary that she did not know where to start, besides most of the books had already been checked out.

The librarian noticing Jennifers distress asked if she could help the poor girl. Oh thank you, said Jennifer. I am entering the contest tomorrow and I am so lost. Where do I start? Where do I end? Who do I believe? Who decides what?

Oh I see, said the librarian. Why don't you just go outside and get some air and rest and maybe the answer will come to you. Ok said Jennifer, but I should hurry for the entry date is soon. So Jennifer went outside and got some rest.

Soon she was playing with the flower petals in the stream and enjoying the beautiful spring day with all the other ants. She forgot all ABOUT THE CONTEST. She had a wonderful time and soon they announced that the library was closing. O no, said Jennifer, My contest entry! I never finished it. What am I to do? So she started to cry.

Don't cry, Jennifer, said the librarian. All is not lost. It is all about how you look at things. Go home before your Mother misses you and think about today - Today was all about Judgement. Think about it, You're a bright ant. I'm sure you'll come up with a fine answer.

So Jennifer went home and thought and thought and thought some more, but nothing made any sense. At breakfast, she sat dejectedly trying to pretend that it didn't matter she had no entry. Mother kept looking at her and was trying to cheer her up. Now Jennifer, said Mom, Don't be so sad. There will be other contests. Now cheer up and get dressed up. Put on something pretty. You always have such good taste in clothes.

OK, Mommy - OH MOMMY!!! NOW I KNOW WHAT JUDGMENT IS. OH THANK YOU SO MUCH. Jennifr hurried off to get dressed. Why of course, she said. This is perfect. Now I'm sure I'll win.

Jennifers entry was very simple - it read:

Judgment is the ability to decide for yourself what is good for you. There are many authorities that try to decide for you and most of them have a lot of experience, but in the long run you still have to decide for yourself. I used to be afraid that I did not know how to decide, but my Mommy helped me with that.

She helped me practice, first with little things and later on with bigger things. Everytime I did it right, my Mother would hug me, when I didn't do so well she would kindly explain what needed to be correced.

She said, remember your mistakes but don't let them run you. Focus on what you did right, instead of what went wrong. Use you past successes to build bigger new ones. When all else fails trust you heart - it always knows what to do.

Use this wonderfull ability for yourself. We never really know what is the best for another. We can only tell them what we would do if we were them. But still, they need to decide for themselves.

Jennifer won first prize and never forgot her lesson.