Richard (and all),
Thank you RP. What great example of opening up.
I'm curious: What difference do you notice in how people interact with others and with themselves after? AND What's next in the process after the discovery of how competitive we have become?
For me this runs deeper than I thought. I have been meeting with a weekly self-discovery group of about 8 months now. I am really discovering how competitive and judgmental and opinionated I have become, not only with others but with myself. I can be very critical and hard on myself and I suspect I am not alone in that. I suspect also that for a change to happen, I will need to start by really reconnecting with myself and others. This, for me, is the heart of peace building work; but Where do I (where do we) start?
So I am now wondering what's next in this quest? How do i (we) break out of this? How do I (we) get back the real connectedness I (we) once experienced with myself (ourselves) and others?
BTW I don't think that "competitive and judgmental and separate" is our natural state. We learn to be this way. What do you think?
On Jul 31, 2012, at 1:12 AM, "Richard G. Powell" <richardgpowell@gmail.com> wrote:
> So beautiful Jim, thank you for sharing! I knew there was a reason why I use Ubuntu instead of windoze ;-)
>
> Reminds me deeply of a group I do at work that I always find fascinating. The group is simple: make a line on the floor creating two sides of the room. The chairs line the group room and you belong to whichever side you happen to be on. One person comes up from each side with the simple description, "The goal is to get the other person to come over to your side". (No touching is allowed) Immediately bribery and manipulation ensue! You should come over here because of x, y and z, or our side is better, etc. Sometimes it takes up to 30 or 40 minutes until someone realizes that the goal is for both people to step across simultaneously so that both sides win... Its amazing how deeply ingrained our competition mentality is yet how profound it hits people when they realize how much easier everything could be if we always considered "how can we all win?" Sometimes in the group they find the solution immediately and then spend the next 20 minutes debating whether or not they can trust the other person to step across as well. So simple yet so revealing...
>
> On 07/30/2012 09:32 PM, jim belcher wrote:
>> To me this is why I participate in PBJ:
>>
>> "An anthropologist suggested the following game to a group of children in a tribe in Africa: He placed a basket full of fresh fruits under a tree. He then said that whoever reached the basket first in a race would be the winner of all the fruits.
>>
>> As he gave the signal to begin the race, the whole group held hands, ran bonded together and then sat and enjoyed the prize together.
>>
>> When he asked why they had done such thing, when he had offered the possibility to one to be the ultimate winner.
>> They replied: " UBUNTU"-- how could one of us be happy (feel happiness) while the rest are in despair, unhappy?
>>
>> UBUNTU in the Xhosa culture means: "I am, because we are."
>>
>> This is the possibility I see.
>>
>> jim
>>
>
>
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