OFTENTIMES in life, we place ourselves above others because we assume we are better than they are and can even live without them.
We behave as though life is a race in which we must emerge first at all costs. It has always been about us.
Indeed, life is a race… but a baton race. We need each other to win. When one person drops the baton, the entire team loses. Our success depends on one another. Whether we reach the top or not largely depends on the people around us. No one can live independently.
Even the most “independent” nations cannot survive alone. They still trade with others. They still coexist with others. No matter how strong or self-sufficient they appear, they still need others to thrive. We are all interdependent.
There is no you without me, and no me without us. Your failure is not my success. We can all win together—indeed, we must win together.
Life is not about who finishes first or how much selfishness drives us. When others perish, we perish too.
No man is an island. I have yet to see anyone who reached the peak of their life without the help of others.
No matter how independent one is, they will need the hand of another at one point or another. As human as we are, we need humans to remain human.
In all my years of reading the Bible, I have yet to see a miracle God wrought among men without involving another man. When He rained manna, He needed Moses to supervise. For Jesus to accomplish His mission, He needed His disciples. Behind David… was a Jonathan.
God uses man. Man needs man. For divinity to even intervene in our lives, humanity becomes the vehicle. For God to bless you, He will often do so through another person. People are indispensable, so treat each one you meet with value.
We need others to reach where we ought to be. We may be on our own, but we cannot afford to walk alone. Just as Joseph needed the chief butler to recommend him to Pharaoh, we all need someone to help us get to where we must be. I am because you are. You are because I am. Ubuntu.
“Ubuntu,” a South African term, means “humanness.” It means one is nothing without the other. It reminds us that I need you as much as you need me. If there are no us, there is no me.
Our dreams are nothing until they come in contact with vessels. We can’t do everything by ourselves—not even if we wanted to. We don’t have all the time or all the skills. We must pour our visions into people, for dreams perish unless shaped by others. People matter.
You need your neighbours. You need that friend. There is no best player without a coach, just as there is no best doctor without a teacher.
Every writer needs a reader. Everybody needs somebody.
Like the human body, we function individually but also together. A defect in one part can affect the entire body. A part seems unimportant until it stops working. In the same way, every person is important in their own role.
Never look down on anyone.
You are because they are. Do not shove people aside, for someday you will need them. They are because you are. Life is like climbing a ladder: the one at the top may never appreciate the one stabilising the bottom—until that support disappears.
Life is teamwork. When others fall on this battlefield called life, help them up. Don’t trample on them. We win or lose as a team. Whether our lot improves depends on each of us. Life is not a one-man show.
I care about you.
My talent is meaningless without you. I am because you are. You are because I am. Every man and woman matters. Indeed, if there is no you, there is no me. When you do good to others, it is not only for their sake—it is for your own.
The writer is the Chief Scribe of Scribe Productions (www.scribeproductions.com) and Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com).
