...one

During a camping trip, Sam and Tom saw a bear coming their way. 

Sam dropped his backpack and told Tom he was going to run for it.

His surprised friend said, "You can't outrun a bear."

Sam replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."

Sadly, this "look-out-for-number-one" mentality is a common approach in business, politics, and sports. Basically good people routinely engage in and justify selfish, short-sighted conduct that treats coworkers, colleagues, and teammates as competitors rather than comrades.

In Steven Carr Reuben's book, Children of Character, he writes about a very different social vision where people find greater meaning and satisfaction in their life by creating caring communities. To make his point, he tells of nine boys and girls in the Special Olympics who were competing in the 100-yard dash.

Just as the race started, one of the boys stumbled, fell, and started to cry. 

The other eight heard him and looked back. First one, then another, then all of them stopped running and went back to help their fallen comrade.

One of the runners, a girl with Down syndrome, bent down and kissed the fallen boy. "This will make it better," she said.  All nine then linked arms and triumphantly walked together to the finish line. "That," Reuben wrote, "is what being part of a community is really about."

It's a lot better way to live than trying to outrun each other.

-michael josephson