June/July 2010

Like-minded people paddling together in the same direction, applying coordinated effort, and encouraging each other along the way will often move ahead with far greater efficiency than a single rower heading that same way alone.

Those who have been part of a band or an orchestra with any formal training and serious pursuit will understand that a well-written piece of music is best delivered by a concerted effort of each musician delivering an exceptional performance for the good of the group.  It takes much more than multiple soloists, each playing their own tunes at the same moment, to justly deliver a masterpiece.

Similarly, those who play in team sports or events understand that the greatest outcome is achieved by all players contributing their individual best in coordinated team effort, even if there are times of personal statistical sacrifice.

Translate this to life.  While it is true that we are all individuals with our own paths to walk having our own notes or roles to play, as it has been so aptly put, "no man is an island".  In the lives of our distant ancestors, an individual who chose to "go it alone" had very little chance of survival and an even slimmer chance of success.  We are designed for the "tribe" model - we need a community of like-minded people around us to offer the protection and courage of numbers and the collective power of will, intellect, or muscle to move us safely forward and whom we can share our own strengths among for the benefit of every other member of the tribe.

Community is available in any realm of life, any pursuit, and will help us grow and succeed in areas we spend our time.  Healthy cooking with people looking to move toward healthful food choices, physical training with group classes or online communities, parent/guardian collaboration and booster clubs around school activities, book clubs, church fellowships, study groups, yard sale/antique/collectors’ groups, and professional associations are all examples of groups of like-minded individuals enjoying their pursuits together.  This is a key to both survival and success – none of us can accomplish everything we intend to do on our own, and none of us should be above helping anyone else achieve a dream.

We can all contribute to each others’ survival and success if we will seek out those who are headed in the same direction and link arms with them, finding a collective benefit that wouldn’t exist otherwise.  In doing so, we may discover that during the days when we just feel a little sluggish or like we don’t want to continue on, there is someone in our community who notices and gives us just the right nudge to keep us going; conversely, we could find that in our up days, we are the ones who reach out to someone who might be dragging a bit and pull the person forward to success.

As we pursue our various successes in our lives this month, let’s keep a watchful eye for candidates in our own communities and look for those who we may be walking alongside but whom we have yet to assist – it could be time to combine efforts and find that place of mutual benefit.

Let’s find out just how enjoyable this push forward can be when we are not the only ones pushing!

Achieving Absolute Excellence,
Brandon

"Our challenge is to understand the dynamic of our perceptions at the various rates of pursuit we approach our futures with."