This photo of 3 beautiful gymnasts in such a complex pose has been something I have always been drawn to. However, if truth be told, it used to bother me that how the girl at the bottom of the structure took the entire weight of the team. And while she was working hard the most, the crowd afar could only see the girl at top and nobody certainly saw the face of the one in the middle hence no one will be able to recall her face. This made me sad and often pushed me into self pity, made me sad about the unfairness that exists in the world.

But as the years went by and while such complex structures still intrigue me, over the years, I have come to realize that the this or any such similar complex structure is a very big illusion to say the least. And if one of these gymnast starts assuming that they solely are responsible for the existence of the structure, and start pitying themselves that they are the only one who is working hard and they are not receiving their due credit, then rest assure that the structure will not exist.

If you closely observe, the stability of the structure solely depends on the 2 qualities of all 3 gymnasts – personal strength and trust amongst the team. If any one does not trust the other 2, not only they will bring down the formation but also hurt themselves severely.

A society too is a similarly complex, and stability solely depends on the facts –

  • whether we are using our strengths to the best of our potential
  • are we trusting each other

If the answer to both is yes, then any team/ society can withstand the worst of adversities that comes its way. If answer of any one of the them is no, then success might be optional, but failure at some point is certain.

And if you are still trying to guess the answer to the question – Who is carrying the most weight?

Well, the answer to is – either no one or every one. How?

The gymnast at the bottom holds her weight on her legs and balances that by extending her arms. She distributes the weight from the top on her back and arms. The gymnast in the middle helps bottom one to become stable by putting her arms on her leg, she puts her partial weight on the bottom gymnast with her leg and holds her own weight on her arms and supports the top one on the other leg. However misleading it might seem, but the top one is actually carrying her entire weight on her arms and shoulders. Additionally, she is maintaining her balance because if she topples the entire structure will collapse.

And while they are busy creating such beautiful structure, the message they seem to convey is – When no one is looking for Personal wins, Everyone manages to Shine….

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