Examples from history of exactly that are so numerous, it would be a lottery to even choose which one to use!
Look no further than the political world, for starters. Wannabe leaders plot and back-stab existing leaders in their own party. They lie and scheme for weeks and months to see their own colleagues' demise.
Who need an opposition to think about and deal with when the real enemy is hiding behind your own closed doors?
Closer to home, I easily recall the internal coup against our late Prime Minister Jim Bolger toward the end of 1997. Bolger was a typical good rural bloke and family man, like many of our readers. But he was toppled from within his own party.
Now, the world of politics certainly is not alone when it comes to this internal assassination and bloodletting stuff!
Corporations and businesses, boards and clubs, indeed any organisation where people gather, are not immune. Yep, ladder climbers can be ruthless!
And families are not exempt here either. Sadly, many get torn apart from within.
The widely known law of synergy certainly adds support to this statement above. Two in harmony and unity can accomplish so much more than one.
One draft horse on its own can pull somewhere between 1000-2000 pounds deadweight. When you team two together, their pulling power doe not simply just double to 2000-4000 pounds. Not at all. If they are trained together, they can more than triple what the one on its own managed.
Imagine if they start plotting and working against each other, the chaos that would ensue! But they are too smart to do that. They leave that kind of stuff to us little humans.
The law of synergy is why the military when marching must break stride when crossing a bridge. Marching in unity has collapsed bridges, back in history.
Now, what I find sad is that this enemy within thing can apply to individuals also. To illustrate, I tell a rather cute story about four small boys I first read some time back. Adam wanted to be just like his good friend Bobby. After all, Bobby was just so cool. It was something about the way he walked and how he talked. Bobby, however, really longed to be just like Charlie. Something about Charlie's manner and accent really impressed Bobby. As it turns out Charlie wasn't happy with himself either. He looked up to another young fella named Danny. Danny was so super cool and always seemed to have such cool stuff. Well as the story goes, it turns out Danny had a hero too. His hero, you wonder? Surprise, surprise, it was none other than the first boy, Adam.
Even if this story is pretend, it still carries much truth. Not many people actually seem to be content with who they are.
Now, to one of my favourite quotes: "All men are born originals. Most die a copy."
All that originality that lays inside them when they arrived on the planet, gets pushed aside, so they can be a copy. Sad indeed!
Accept who you are. There are more than enough dramas, pressures, and other stress-causing stuff happening around us in our world we have to face.
When you settle the stress-causing stuff on the inside, then you will cope much better with the flak from the outside. And yes, I happen to know the one who can help like no other.
God bless.
To contact Colin Miller, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
