Reconciliation

"This isn't just about winning. It can't be about winning. If we only want to win, then there will always be losers, and how is that so different from the way things were? This has always been about the big picture, about moving on together."

I read this quote in the June 2010 National Geographic article on South Africa. The man who said it is a mediator, a black man who is willing to get dirty and get involved in messy situations and deal with the compications of reconciliation.

It is so true. Whether it be reconciliation between two groups of people (or more) who have had racial hostility for generations or between two individuals who have hurt each other over the years, this remains the same: it cannot be about winning! Winning, or even picking a side, is completely unhelpful AND misses the point. The point is to move on together, to be reconciled, to learn to coexist and maybe even be friends.