Making a Case for Sharing

As any five-year old might tell you, sharing is important. It is an essential and oft-forgotten paradigm of human existence that we are not only supposed to share - we must share in order to thrive and make the most of our lives.

My earliest memories of the concept of sharing come from a kindergarten and involve a certain handmade wooden pickup truck that was the object of desire in a pile of lackluster toys in our classroom. For the boys, this was the only toy with any relevance. In a box full of dolls, stuffed animals, and educational games the truck was the prize.

In order get to play with the truck (or any other toy) you had to finish your exercises - and if you wanted the truck you had better finish first. Even girls would take the truck if they finished first because it had an undeniable value, a kindergarten currency that was unmatched by anything in the room.

The possessor had all of the attention, made the rules of the games, and was at once made a desirable friend and the object of great envy. A tiny dictator that called the shots, a three-foot tall figure that cast a large shadow and was simultaneously loved and hated for the same reason.

After a few weeks of finishing my lessons first I was atop the hierarchy that existed among the best and brightest my class had to offer the world in 1978. I owned that truck. You might as well put my name on it.

I deserved it, too. I worked my little butt off to finish fastest, to stay focused during any type of nose-picking or hair-pulling distractions. I kept my eyes on the prize and was rewarded with the truck and some quiet time playing before everyone else finished. Sometimes I couldn't even wait for the others to get there so I could exact my strategies on them. I would whisper across the room, "Hurry up, guys. I made up a new game to play. I am the truck."

This all went according to plan until one day when my teacher decided she would take the opportunity to teach me an important life-lesson: Sharing. On that day I was asked to give up the truck so that others could play with it, so others could make the rules, so others could feel what it was like to be "on top."

No, this was all wrong. I earned it. It was rightfully mine. Why should I have to give up power to the horse-players and booger-eaters who not only lacked the focus to finish their lessons on pace, but also had no experience in creating interesting games to play or viable story lines involving the truck? These people had no vision. They had not the qualifications nor experience to deal with the power that had actually been simply handed to them.

I did not see the benefit of sharing that day, or for many days after.

As an adult I can't escape the tenets of sharing and the healing power it offers. The power of domination and manipulation pales as we traverse adulthood. True power comes from sharing. True meaning comes from sharing.

After all what is success, if you can't spread it? What is love if you can't give it to someone? What value belongs to material things when no one is there to enjoy them with you?

So share. Share your successes, sprinkle them on everyone you love - maybe even reserve some for ones you don't understand. You'll be glad you did.

Share your heartaches - people will be happy to help you, and that will transform the way you view the human race.

Share your fears and worries - people will confide that they presently have, or have had the same ones as you. Either way your fears will shrink in the power of sharing.

Share your time because sometimes people need you to listen - sometimes people need your counsel. Share it with them. It will restore your faith in yourself.

Share your life - because you are interesting, because you are one-of-kind, because people will love you for it and you will love them back.

Share because true human power lives in the ability to expose ourselves to each other, pick each other up, and celebrate our triumphs.

What else is there?