MUDITA

This morning I read the chapter on Unselfishness from the book Help the Helper. It exposed me to a new word- MUDITA. This is a joy experienced from seeing others in your group experience success. This is a true excitement for others. This is not an excitement because it benefits you. Creating a culture of MUDITA can be very difficult because of the all about me attitude. There is not a greater feeling than being a part of a group that sincerely cares about each other. Being a part of a team in which each individual works their butt off to make the team the best that it can be. When I was in college I got to experience this first hand. I played on a very good Hanover basketball team that had the best player in Division III basketball on it. His name was David Benter.

Dave was like a small college Larry Bird. He could do it all- he could score inside, rebound, defend, and play on the perimeter. OK, he did struggle a little at the FT line. The thing that Dave brought to the team other than his great skill was leadership, unselfishness, and a high level of competitiveness everyday! This carried over to our whole team. Dave would have games in which he scored 35 points, and have 15 rebounds- but he was still concerned with the team performance. He was humble, and he helped to create MUDITA within the team. Guys on that team held each other accountable. If one guy was dogging it, then someone spoke up. If someone took a charge, then there were players on the bench up and cheering. If someone on the team was being a problem, then we discussed it. We helped our teammates....we cared about the success of the group. No one cared who scored the points as long as the Panthers were successful. No one cared who got their name in the paper, we all wanted to see the score in the paper that showed Hanover victorious. True MUDITA is not common. Everyday it is very easy to experience jealousy, envy, and joy in others failures. Putting your team and your teammates in front of yourself can be very rewarding. Not only can it lead to success, but it can lead to great relationships, lessons in togetherness, and lifelong memories! MUDITA!