The same boat

Cooperation

Cooperation

        The waters of were as peaceful and refreshing as they were wild and beautiful.  Today we are celebrating my daughter Rebekah’s 19th birthday with a kayak/canoe ride.  We have come to paddle along the Loyd Owens Canoe Trail and take in some of the unspoiled beauty of one of the cleanest rivers in the Eastern United States; the Tallapoosa River in Cleburne County. 
        The trip was almost perfect; the skies were blue, the pleasant breeze and the cool waters offered a perfect balance to the warm temperatures and best of all, the company was awesome.  Laughter filled the Alabama sky as we were carried along by our new best friend, the gentle current of the Tallapoosa.  The banks of the river were teeming with wildlife that had come to cheer me on and to see who could be having so much fun (apparently, wildlife are very curious creatures).
        After we enjoyed a picnic on a sandbar consisting of a buffet of PB&J (peanut butter and jelly) sandwiches my girls conducted a little experiment.  They tied their kayaks together, end to end and began to paddle.  It was here in the middle of their experiment that my side began to hurt… I laughed so hard watching them turn in circles and run aground!  They discovered that it takes a great deal of teamwork and cooperation to navigate a big boat.
        Thinking back to the experiment I am reminded again of how important words like teamwork, collaboration, cooperation, partnership, unity and harmony really are.  Learning to work together in symphony is vital if we would maneuver the rough waters of this life.  We didn’t all come over in the same ship, but we’re all in the same boat.  Look around you today and become part of the team.  Happiness is a choice; choose teamwork and cooperation.
Something to think about:

  • A river is powerful because many drops of water have learned the secret of cooperation.
  • The human body is probably the most amazing example of teamwork anywhere. Every part needs the other; When the stomach is hungry, the eyes spot the hamburger; The nose smells the onions, the feet run to the snack stand, the hands douse the burger with mustard and shove it back into the mouth, where it goes down to the stomach. Now that’s cooperation!
  • Most people are willing to meet each other halfway; trouble is, most people are pretty poor judges of distance.
  • Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
  • Group harmony is seldom achieved without personal sacrifice.
  • Cooperation is doing with a smile what you had to do anyway.
  • Cooperate! Remember the banana? Every time it leaves the bunch it gets skinned.

Thankful for my team
Rickey Moore

For more info on caning the Tallapoosa visit: http://www.tallapoosariveroutfitters.com/
To see more photos of my canoe trip visit: http://rlmoore.com/Images/tallapoosa/index.html
         

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 3:18 am and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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