United We Stand....Divided We Fall

I proudly hail from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, though I have been some time now a Florida transplant.  The motto on the Kentucky State flag is "United We Stand - Divided We Fall". Pretty profound when you think about it.  After all, aren't we more powerful when we work together toward a common goal, as opposed to everyone going in different directions?  How often, though, do we go our own way, not because we don't support the same larger goal as others, but because we are locked into our own paradigm of the world.  It could be "my way is the only way to do it" or "I don't agree with [insert name here]" or "I don't want to work with [insert name here]"... We go off on our own path, only to find that it would have been much easier and effective to join together to meet that greater common goal. 

There are countless examples of the power of unity, both recounted a myriad of times in history and in a smaller context in our daily lives.  Look at a horse and its rider -- a horse and rider working together is profoundly beautiful.  A horse and rider that are in conflict is another matter.  You could have the best horse or the best rider, but if that unity -- that oneness, is not established -- well, it is all for naught.

It takes courage and a knowledge of self to be able to step back and look at a situation and determine how to effectively work with others to meet that common goal.  That isn't to say that there may be times that you do need to make your own path, but there are many times when we need to step away from the ego and emotions to determine what is really important.  United, we can do great things!