Oftentimes in life, we tend to place ourselves above others because we assume we are better than they are, thus, can even live without them. We assume that life is a race of which we must emerge first at all cost. It has always been about us.

Indeed, life is a race… but a baton race. We need each other to win. When one loses or misses the baton, we all lose as a team. Our success depends on each other. Whether we will reach the top of life or not largely depends on other people. No man can ever live independently!

Even the most independent nations don’t live all alone all by themselves. They still need to trade with others. They still need to co-exist with others. No matter how independent they are, they still need others to survive. We all are independently dependent on each other.

There’s no you without me and there’s no me without us. Your failure is not my success. We all can win together. Indeed, we all must win together. Life’s not about who emerges first. It’s not about how greed and selfishness consumes the better part of us. When others perish, we perish, too.

No man is an island. I am yet to see a man who climbed to the peak of his life all by himself… without the help of others. No matter how independent a man is, he may need the help of others at one time or the other. As human as we are, we need humans to stay human!

As long as I have been a Bible-reading Christian, I’m yet to see or read when God did wrought a miracle among men without using another man. When He had to rain manna, He needed a Moses to supervise. For Jesus to fully accomplish His mission, He needed His disciples. Behind David… was a Jonathan!

God needs man. Man needs man. Thing is, for divinity to even interfere in our lives, humanity will be the vehicle. For God to even bless you, He would need to do so through another man. People are indispensable in your life so you had better treated each of them you come across right.

We need others to reach where we ought to be. We are on our own but we can’t afford to walk alone. Like Joseph needed the chief butler to recommend him to Pharaoh, we all need someone help us get to where we need to be. I am because you are. You are because I am. Ubuntu!

“Ubuntu” is a South African term which means “humanness”. It means one is nothing without the other. It means that as long as I am without you, I am nothing. Otherwise speaking, I need you as much as you need me. If there’s no us, there’s no me!

You see, our dreams are nothing until they come in contact with vessels. We can’t do everything all by ourselves and even if we could, we don’t have all the time in the world to. We need to pour our vision into vessels. Our dreams will sadly perish until they are shaped by people. People matter. You need your neighbors. You need that friend. There’s no best player without a coach just like there’s no best doctor without a teacher. Every writer needs a reader. Everybody needs somebody.

Like the human body, we have been made to function individually but also together. A defect in a part may result in the entire body having a physical challenge. A part of the body seems unimportant until it ceases to function. In like manner, each man is important in their own way.

Never look down on anyone. You are because they are. Don’t shove them aside because come what may, you will need them someday. They are because you are. Life’s like climbing a ladder. The one at the apex of the ladder may not know the importance of the one at the bottom who’s trying to stabilize it… until the latter is no more at work.

Life is teamwork. When others fall down on this battlefield called life, help them up. Don’t trample on them. We win or lose as a team. Whether our lot will be any better, it depends on each of us. Life is not a one-man show!

I care about you. My talent is of no relevance without you. I am because you are. You are because I am. Every man and woman is important. Indeed, if there’s no you, there’s no me. When you do good to others, it is not for their sake. It is for your own sake.

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com). His new play, TRIBELESS, is this weekend, Sept. 16/17, at the Drama Studio, Legon.