I am 120,000 feet over the ground in an Airbus 320 in my way to Chihuahua, Mexico to attend a national tournament for basketball. I’m representing my university, Universidad Anáhac México, and my team has become a second family to me for all the time we have spent together.
It is wonderful to be a part of my team because it motivates you to be a better person day by day, and in each training we show our effort and give our best.
Nonetheless, not everything is as easy and nice as it seems. Each one of us had a different and unique way of thinking and we must interact with each other under a clear line of respect and most importantly, solidarity. That solidarity has been created by our friendships and has been confirmed in the hardest times. According to the WYA Declaration on Solidarity, “solidarity is the unified commitment of persons to live and work in the truth of who we are and for the pursuit of the common good.” The declaration further states that solidarity begins with the fundamental recognition and common understanding that all human beings have intrinsic human dignity.
In connection to this, I have realized that even when we’re different on the outside, we’re very much alike on the inside as we are all people.
Starting from the point that we’re all part of a team, we have the ultimate goal of winning. Therefore, we have to realize that what affects one of our members affects us all. This is not only on the negative side but also on the positive, like with personal achievements. As interdependent players, we have developed a sense of responsibility for the benefit of the team because we’re conscious that the work that we do individually will eventually add up at the moment of truth in a match. It is during a match when our work, or lack thereof, will show the difference in scoring, between landing or missing a free throw, and doing a good job in defending your team or preventing the other team from scoring. On the contrary, if one of us stops going to the gym or stops her individual throwing sessions, it will end up harming the whole team.
Teamwork is something that allows you to develop a sense of fraternity and brotherhood, a sense of love for your teammates. This is why every time I have faced an issue of any kind, I have had a hand there to help me. I’m confident that if we could develop this fraternity by a hundred percent, a life of well-being for all would be achieved and there would be not social inequality.
For the time being, you can start working this out with the people that surround you. Adding up small actions will eventually build a large change. Simple things like saying “good morning” to your neighbors with warmth and sincerity and to those who you work with even when it can sound difficult will start changing society. This will even have a larger and stronger impact when done to the people whom we find hard to deal with.
Starting today the possibility of having the world change shouldn’t remain within you, it should reflect on you the world you would like to see and live in.
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This blog was originally written in Spanish by Yunuen Muñoz, a former WYA LA intern from Mexico.
