The Virtue of Cooperation
18 May 2010 Leave a Comment
in Cooperation, Self-Discipline, Unity
Cooperation: is working together and sharing the load. When we cooperate, we join with others to do things that cannot be done alone. We are willing to follow the rules which keep everyone safe and happy. Together we can accomplish great things. (www.52virtues.com)
Cooperation is one of those “things I learned in Kindergarten” kind of virtues…but even still…many of us struggle with cooperation in our workplaces and at home.
Why is that? I’m thinking that it is because cooperation calls us to put aside our ego in order to put the needs of the group above our own needs. Putting aside our ego is NOT an easy thing to do. Eckhart Tolle makes it seem easy in his books “The Power of Now” and “The New Earth” but don’t be fooled. It takes effort, determination, and sacrifice on everyone’s part in order to truly come to a place of genuine cooperation and unity in a group.
Even though it’s not easy to put aside the ego, it is certainly worth it. By cooperating we can achieve greater things than if we alone. Reflecting on the virtue of cooperation makes me think of that story with the twigs and how one twig is so easy to break but when you have 50 twigs bound together none of them can be broken. That is the way it is with cooperation. Together, we create a powerful bond that is unbreakable.
Copyright Rachel Perry 2010
