One for All, and All for One

Proverbs 17:17

We are constantly going through new obstacles in every new step of of our lives. These challenges aren’t always bad, many times they offer new experiences in order to push us out of our comfort zone so that we can learn more about ourselves, the life we live, or just teach us new skills. Other times these situations may not always be in or favor , they may be adversities that were thrusted upon us without any warning. Despite whatever situation it is, the most important part is in how we choose to see the problem and the actions we take.

If you're anything like me you were thought to be independent. At a young age the idea of self sufficiency and unreliance on anybody was heavily enforced into my core ideals. If there was a situation that I wasn't able to handle on my own, then there wouldn't be any reason for anybody else to go out of their way and lend a helping hand; my problems were my own and nobody else would care if I got through them or not. Basically the mentality boiled down to “im on  my own and that's just how life is”. I quickly learned that I was wrong, by keeping our problems to ourselves we become isolated and distant from the people that we most care about. God never wanted us to live a life by ourselves, he never created just one person, He created two, and went on to tell us to make more.

We were always meant to live as a community, living together; both encouraging and relying on each other for support. When we choose to rely on community it allows others to bring in new perspective and clarity into the obstacle your currently facing. It takes you away from a position of isolation into one of support and love.

Whenever I think of community I always think of the old three musketeers Disney movie with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. The motto for the three musketeers is famously “one for all, and all for one”. While the line comes from a silly cartoon, it still has a lot of truth to it, we are supposed to live together and the success of one is the success of all. When we stumble in our lives and we get back up, it becomes not just your accomplishment, but also the accomplishment of everyone around you. Community gives help to those who need it, encouragement to those who are down, and celebration in the success of each other.

Stop living as an individual and start seeing yourself as a part of your community. Don’t just help out your community, but learn to let your community help you.

William Rivero

Service Liaison