Finding Unity in the Musketeers’ Approach

Written by Ron Colone | 01 June 2009

Why, it was only a month ago I was committed and consistent, and then stuff got in the way; people, deadlines, diversions and sickness.

I had managed to carve out certain times of the day, and I was dedicated to those slots. I had gotten myself into a good routine, and was gaining momentum and getting results. Suddenly, it stopped, as the demands of some aspect of my life seemed to me to become greater and call out for more of my time and attention.

You may ask, what was it I was doing before I got interrupted? If you guessed working out, you’re right. If you guessed meditating, you’re right. If you guessed picking things up, or putting things away, or practicing clarinet, or eating, breathing and speaking – consciously, then you are also right, in each and every instance.

It’s the issue of conflicting selves; different aspects of ourselves; different characters with different concerns and on different time schedules, each wrestling for control.

It’s why some spiritual teachers say we don’t deserve the right to use the word “I,” because it implies that there is one controlling entity whose goals and priorities and preferences and opinions remain constant from day to day or even throughout the course of a single day, when in reality we have many different “I”s all concerned with different things and going off in different directions, at different times, or sometimes even at the same time. Some of those teachers, and many of the proponents of their teachings, believe that the key and the requirement is to “become one.”

I’ve been taking a little bit different approach to it lately, as my focus has been to see how many of my different “I”s I can get to happily, and peacefully, and effectively co-exist together at the same time; a sort of musketeers approach, where it’s all for one and one for all.

Through self observation I have come to believe (or at least one of my “I”s believes) that the minimum number of “I”s that is required, and that must co-exist in a state of balance in order for me to be happy and fulfilled is five.

One is the one who loves and honors and is fully cognizant of the importance of family and friends. Other of my “I”s who must be present and active are the ones who attend to work, physical health, spiritual health, and the “other” work of “higher” purpose. Sometimes I do a better job, and sometimes I’m not quite as good at keeping these five basic selves of mine happening at the same time.

When things are going along nicely, and the five of us are working well and playing nice together for an extended period of time, I gradually welcome in other “I”s and other aspects (there have been times when a dozen of us have enjoyed extended times and journeys together.) It’s similar to the way I work out; I add a push-up a day until my momentum gets broken, and then I take it back down to 10 and start building again from there.

Likewise, in this crazy, busy, hectic world, when my personal momentum gets interrupted, or I feel overwhelmed or overloaded, I pull in the reins, and cut it back down to the most necessary aspects, where there’s just the five of us, my essential selves, pledging “one for all and all for one.”

Ron Colone can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it