Are You a Team Player?

On the heels of the Super Bowl, there’s an important lesson we can all learn from it. Specifically, we can learn from a comment made by the wife of one of the quarterbacks. The comment implied that the loss of the game was due to some players on the team more than others.

Every sports team must understand the importance of working as a single unit. The less unity there is within the team, the less successful they will be. Every coach knows this. After all, each player is entirely dependent on the others to come up with a win. It is no different than the right arm vs. the left arm. While one is typically stronger than the other, it will never be complete without its partner.

When it comes to sports, it’s not enough to talk the talk of unity. The reason why is because “the proof is in the pudding.” If the players do not genuinely see each other as one unit, it will show in their performance. Which is why, in defense of the comment, a spouse can find themselves saying something which defies the very unity of the team. When you’re not on the team, you don’t share the sense of unity.

Humanity is also a team. We need to begin seeing ourselves as one. When I recently observed a guy drop an empty can out of his car window, I knew he didn’t see himself as a member of the team. “It’s your street, not my street, that I just littered,” is what he’s thinking. He has a narrow view of himself and his impact. When we begin seeing things with a wider lens, we suddenly realize that indeed, the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil does set off a tornado in Texas.

Let us teach seeing ourselves a part of something much greater, a part of the human team. It will have a significant effect on the choices we make and the lives we lead.

P.S. Join me for my upcoming six-week course on The Art of Marriage: www.myjli.com