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When it comes to achieving an important goal, what do you think matters most—individual effort or the support of others? Of course, this is somewhat of a trick question as the answer is not an “either-or" but rather a “both-and." Evidence of this "both-and" is all around us in this season of graduations, where we honor the accomplishments of both individuals and the villages of support that have made the graduation possible.
Celebrating individual effort comes naturally for most of us; it is part of the DNA of our culture. We love to celebrate the determined individual who does things their way. It is not surprising that Frank Sinatra's "I Did It My Way," released in 1969, was his most famous song ever and continues to be downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people every year. We see this same focus on the individual in the sports world, where we like to celebrate superstars. And yet whenever a superstar is interviewed right after a significant achievement, they always point out that they could not have done what they did without the support of their teammates.
As we have mentioned already, graduation celebrations provide an excellent opportunity to celebrate both the individual efforts of the graduate, as well as the village of support that has made their accomplishment possible. It is probably impossible to list all the members of a graduate's village. Still, it certainly could include parents, grandparents, siblings, peers, teachers, coaches, administrators, neighbors, tutors, employers, club and extracurricular activity leaders, those who support the school, and its leaders and alums.
Our Wellness Compass Initiative also celebrates both individual choices and the importance of the support of others. We believe that the idea of individual wellness is a bit of an oxymoron. We all need and benefit from a village of support, as we are better together. In our villages of support, sometimes we are the ones receiving aid, and at other times we are those offering the assistance. It takes a village, and it takes individual commitment to accomplish things and to be well.
This podcast marks the end of our "season," as we'll be taking a break for the summer. We will be back right after Labor Day. As we pause for some rest and renewal, we want to thank each of you for being part of our wellness village. We are honored to walk this journey of wholeness and wellness with each of you. We wish everyone a great summer and hope it will offer us all some time to nurture the important villages of support in our lives.
Please know that all of our previous weekly columns and podcasts are archived and available on our website www.WellnessCompass.org. Please have a great summer; we look forward to returning in September.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Holly Hughes Stoner, LMFT and Scott Stoner, LMFT, are both licensed marriage and family therapists who are partners in life and in work. They are the Co-Directors and Co-Creators of the Wellness Compass Initiative, a non-profit initiative that crates preventative wellness materials for adults, families, and teens. They live in Madison, Wisconsin and are the parents of three adult children and are blessed with two grandchildren, as well.