Thomas T

Thomas A Tattamus took two T's,

To tie two tups to two tall trees,

To frighten the terrible Thomas a Tattamus!

Tell me how many T's there are in all that.

From Primary 1 to Secondary 5, from age 7 to age 17, I only remember one friend. I am sure there are a few. But this one stays in mind.

There were many friends I remember from my secondary school days but not that many from my primary school days.

And this one person I have not found in Facebook, or even if I think it may be him, I am not certain.

So, Thomas T and I go back, way back.

It is funny sometimes how competitive we were as little kids. I guess the world has not changed so much where this competition goes into the work environment.

I sometimes feel that individual competition takes over too much that people forget that working as a team is always better and achieves better results.

But Thomas, he was a smart person, a strong individual competitor, a nice guy although at times we hated him for being such a Teacher's Pet.

Every class has one of those little snitches, those perfect embodiment of perfectness that was ready to snitch on anyone else in the classroom.

He was the perfect person for class monitor and teachers loved him.

Even when we went to a democratic means of appointing a class monitor and by some miracle I was the class monitor once, the teacher's would always ask him to do the work. In retrospect, I got the glory and he did the work, it was not too shabby a deal for me.

I am not being bitter here, just sharing funny memories of childhood. And sometimes I see these funny memories play out in real life.

An individual can do wonders and can even move mountains but imagine what a close knit team working together can do.

I have always been one where team results are important to me and because of the team's results, I get rewarded and the team gets rewarded individually.

Even the Prophet's worked in a team, Jesus was just these great wonderful person, full of love, forgiveness and gratitude. He would still be what he is but he had twelve apostles to ensure his word was spread. Well, one committed suicide but that is a different story.

Even Buddha had close followers that spread the Buddhist teachings as well as martial arts throughout the region.

Even Mahavir had his close followers.

Sometimes individuals come and think they can be in charge and manage everything, like Gadafi, Mubarak, Mahathir but eventually they all fall, one way or another.

Those who remain are those who have always believed in teamwork, sharing the load, change, working together to achieve a goal.

When you pray at home, alone, and you speak to God - it is a wonderful experience. But when you go to God's temple and pray together and speak to God together in a group, the energy is totally different.

In a marathon, the person who breaks off to fast and lead the race rarely wins. Those that stay within a pack and then a pack breaks off and then towards the end, the packs breaks into individuals.

In teams sports, many a times an individual things they can run the team, but the often fail. Even take Michael Jordan, he became great in Chicago because of his team-mates. Without his team mates, he would not be the greatest player in  basketball. But he screwed up when he become big, and when he went to Washington, he came out of retirement. He thought he could do it himself. Well, he did not.

I have always been a team player, always been one to care for people.

And I am certain as we grow up, many of us have different realisations.

I hope my dear friend that I have known for a long time has also become a great wonderful person, a family man, a team player and a great leader. Maybe one day, Facebook will connect us, but if it does not, then it was never intended to be so.

This month, I am writing about our friends, dear old friends in the past and in the present. I am writing about our dear human friends as well as our dear animal friends. I will write about your friends too if you want me to, whether it is a pet or a human. So, if you would like to share something about a friend, send me an email to nilsmusings@gmail.com and I will be happy to write a story about your friend.

Take care and be well.