Spiritual Forum

ONE for ALL and ALL for ONE

One for all and all for one worked well for the three musketeers and I know it’ll work well for you.

Our community gives lip service to this idea yet so often valorises competition. Competition is said to motivate our drive for excellence yet it actually does the opposite. Competition narrows our vision and expands our anxiety.

A competitive world insists on scarcity. In every endeavour only the winner is a grinner. Every other competitor is a loser. Competition doesn’t motivate a desire to excel instead it’s defined by the fear of losing.

I remember the champion boxer Mike Tyson saying that winning didn’t motivate him rather it was the shame of being beaten that fired his fight. Clearly this wasn’t a recipe for long term success much less a creator of mental health and happiness.

Consider a story told by the iconic Australian Weary Dunlop about the brutal POW camps in World War 2. Apparently the Australian soldiers pooled their resources and supported each other as loving mates do. The US soldiers with their competitive capitalistic philosophy didn’t do that as well. Guess who survived better!

Another story that comes to mind is where an international athlete, Ivan Anaya, was behind the lead when the front runner thought he had finished and so slowed down. Rather than win because of his competitors error he helped him by guiding him to the line.

Ivan didn’t win the race but he did achieve a fame that would have never otherwise been his. I reckon he won a pride that’ll last for the rest of his life.

Think for a moment about the most wonderful experiences in your life. Is it not the generous love most often found in friends and family and in the kindness experienced between strangers? On the other hand the thing that’s most depressing and exhausting is the lonely hateful politics and conflict that you’ve thought you must fight your way through.

The unity in Love and kindness in its vastly varied forms is energising. Love creates abundance. It is the action and feeling that is far and away most valuable thing. When one person succeeds, we all win.

Martin Hunter Jones is an honorary member of the Australian Counselling Association.