Friday, March 6, 2015

Win one for the Gipper!

Teamwork

Unity is strength...when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”
Mattie Stepanek

I wonder whether you have ever been on a Board of Directors or a standing Committee tasked with certain shared responsibilities. It's like being on a team...a wrestling team. Rarely is it easy, or clean, and depending upon the temperament of the members, can take a veritable eternity to make any decision. Everyone must have their say, participate equally, have their ideas respected and taken seriously. For loners like me, it can be frustrating at best, and hellish at worst. It's this sort of painful stretching that results both in achieving a shared goal, and in making progress toward emotional maturity.

When a group functions as a team, it can accomplish anything from organizing a road race, to constructing the Taj Mahal. With everyone carrying out their individual responsibilities, no colony of ants could be more productive. Which is not to say the result will be smooth or without error. 

We humans are tribal animals. We function best in cooperative communities. Making decisions alone is faster, and less irritating, but does not always produce the best outcome. And, honestly, it's lonesome.

If you don't have a “team” get one, join one, volunteer for one. If you're truly brave and determined to make spiritual progress, join one with a number of highly opinionated persons in it—especially ones who do not share your particular and precious world view. They'll turn you every which way but loose, and you will grow up, and learn to hold your own. In the process, the experience will broaden your world view, and add a few new layers to your cerebral cortex. I guarantee it, y'all.

                                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                                        Jane

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