- A partnership is formed to share direction.
- A friendship is fueled by shared interests.
- A marriage is anchored by a shared commitment.
- A family creates a shared history.
- A group works toward a shared goal.
- A team shares a common vision.
- An organization is driven by a shared mission.
- A community coalesces around shared values.
What does your connection share? Is it interests, commitment, or history? Is it direction, goals, mission, or values? When you evaluate your friendship, marriage, family, group, team, organization, or community wellness, are the connections healthy?
To get to the answer of ‘yes,’ the following ingredients to the recipe of relationship wellness must be true.
Unconditional positive regard: Connection begins with respect and understanding – of both similarities and differences. Consider what would need to be true to make your partner’s choices make sense.
Freedom to collaborate: Trust is the fuel for partnership. Assume a need for interdependence, whether the stakes are high or low. Everyone’s action impacts everyone else.
Appetite for growth: Change can spiral upward or downward. Downward is easier because its cause is simple neglect. The decision to grow a connection equates to an investment of energy.
Resilience during adversity: Humans are fragile and human connections are vulnerable. The ability to heal is more important than never getting injured. Recovery results in strengthening.
Give some thought to the many forms of connection that happen every day, week, month, and year. Once you prune the options down to a critical mass of relationships that most matter in your life, devise a strategy to grow each connection. What is the common thread you each share?
