“It’s amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares who gets the credit.” Harry Truman
It seems as though people are always competing. Automobile drivers race ahead of the car ahead only to stop at the same stoplight down the street. Line too long in this lane, maybe I can move to the right and then cut in up ahead. My religion is better than the other guy’s. My football team lost? It must be because the other team or the referees cheated.
As a former athlete and coach, I, too, felt the elation of winning and the depression following a defeat. As my beloved Coach Gordie Gillespie once stated, “We didn’t really lose; we just ran out of innings.”
Fortunately, athletic contests are over once the clock, or the innings, terminate the game resulting in a win or a loss on the field or on the court. Game over. Let’s get on with life.
But life can also be viewed as a “win/lose” scenario. If the other guy wins, then that makes me a loser.
How about viewing life as having a “win/win” approach?
My son, Eric, and I have 30-minute phone conversations 2-3 times a week where we discuss almost anything that comes to mind, including what we loosely define as “philosophical ramblings.” Eric is a salesman, songwriter, singer who also conducts seminars for new and veteran salespeople. He and I agreed that selling can be a “win/win/win” for the seller, the company, and the purchaser of a product. Throw in another winner, “society,” if the product makes the world a little better.
Which brings us to the individual and to the world writ large.
The Individual
Maybe I should look at competition as competing with myself. How can I continuously approach my life as making myself the best human being that I can be? Can I tap into the limited personal resources – brain, body, spirit – in order to fulfill the potential that I possess. How can I be the best person, a person who recognizes why I have been put on the earth? How can I be someone who makes a positive difference for others? My kids, grandkids, and those with whom I don’t even know?
My Teammates
The prefix “co…” is part of many significant words that come to mind. Cooperate, collaborate, communion, commit, compile, console, connect, compassion, etc.. Of all these words, the word “collaborate” or “cum laborare,” means to work with others toward a goal. You know, like teamwork, in the work that cannot be accomplished by an individual.
How can we work together toward the goals of better health, better lives for fellow humans, better air and water, sustainability of our home, the earth? The resources, human and otherwise, are all out there.
Braidwood Beginnings 