It Matters If They Win, Too
It’s not just about me.
It’s not just about you.
It has to matter to us that it’s also about others.
This is what I heard in The Boys in the Boat as I was reading it. It’s the story of nine boys-to-men from the University of Washington as they entered the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Listen to author Daniel James Brown:
“What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did in the boat harmonized with what the other fellows were doing. And a man couldn’t harmonize with his crewmates unless he opened his heart to them. He had to care about his crew. It wasn’t just the rowing but his crewmates that he had to give himself up to, even if it meant getting his feelings hurt.
Pocock paused and looked up at Joe. ‘If you don’t like some fellow in the boat, Joe, you have to learn to like him. It has to matter to you whether he wins the race, not just whether you do.’”
Isn’t this true for all us humans?
If we’re not fond of some fellow passenger in the boat, we can still care about their well-being, their journey, their heart.
Can we let it matter to us whether others win the race, too, not just whether we do?
Let’s care about our crew today.
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Are there people in your boat that get on your nerves? How do you handle your irritation? Please share in the comments.
revised from the archives
Wonderful, Lisa. Short. Simple. Sweet. Memorable. Powerful. Ah, then, the question is: Do we want everybody to win the race? Many don’t, sadly. They’d just as soon as “throw the man overboard,” thinking that if the weight is lighter, it will be easier for the ones in the boat to win. But not so in the example you have provided, and frankly, not so in life. I wish more people would realize that. When we diminish and dismiss others, we, ourselves are diminished. Eventually we will all go down if we don’t row together!
Love you, and thank you for sharing this timely example of team spirt and love.
xo
Lynn
Timely Post, Lisa. I am dealing with a team mate who is very difficult to talk to. Thanks.
Amen, Lisa! This is such a true and uplifting post here today. We must care about how our other team mates are faring in this journey called life. We don’t have to like them, but we do need to show them love, dignity and respect as Jesus would have us do. Otherwise, no one wins.
Blessings!