We Need Each Other So Much More Than We Think

Have you ever considered that most of what we benefit from in our lives is enabled by one or more people that make it possible?  Far too often we take their contribution for granted. 

Perhaps the best articulation of this phenomenon comes from an email that Steve Jobs, founder of the Apple empire, wrote to himself in a reflective moment in 2010:

“I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow I did not breed or perfect the seeds.

I do not make any of my own clothing.

I speak a language I did not invent or refine.

I did not discover the mathematics I use.

I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.

I am moved by music I did not create myself.

When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.

I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object-oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.

I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well-being.”

Source: Email sent on September 2, 2010. Featured in Make Something Wonderful​

Isn’t it easy to take our success or good fortune for granted by thinking that we’re responsible and credit-worthy for our accomplishments?   Maybe we congratulate ourselves for our successful career.  Or take pride in creating a nest egg for our future.  Or conclude that our adult children’s success is because we were exceptional parents.  All of which is mistaken at least and prideful at worst.

Consider a thought-exercise to help re-orient your paradigm: think of one of the examples above, or consider your own, unique example.  Who are the people or what are the circumstances that enabled your success in that arena? 

For example, I could be tempted to believe that any success I’ve had in my career was because of my talent or skills.  The truth is that people like Bob Livonius, Joe Forehand, and Rick Page provided me with career advancement opportunities before I had really earned and/or deserved them.  My career trajectory would have been entirely different, and far-less fortunate, had these people not taken a chance on my behalf.  That’s precisely what Steve Jobs was referencing – we need people far more than we think. 

Take a few minutes to think through the same exercise related to your good fortune.  Was it your brilliance or did your success have far more to do with a few key people who mentored you and took some chances on you that changed the trajectory of your life?

Here are a few recommendations based on Steve Jobs’ poignant note:

• Recognize and acknowledge those key people and circumstances that helped you in important parts of your life-journey.  BTW, have you taken the time to thank them?
• Be grateful for every gift and assistance you’ve been blessed to receive.
• Be humble in every circumstance – acknowledging that your good fortune is less about you and more about who God has placed in your path or the events he helped orchestrate.
• And, recognize that we’re better together than you are alone – as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:12

What about you?  Will you take an inventory of who (or what) has been instrumental in your life?

I always welcome your comments and perspectives.