Since contemplating the usage of my mobile and my reliance on its distractions, I’ve been talking with a parent about the challenges they’re facing with older children at home (teenagers).
Their dilemma was/is balancing the encouragement of their offspring towards independence with the reality check of escalating costs. Disentangling a tangle of interdependence, interconnection and void-filling from being a financial crutch for a family of young adults who, in turn, are crutches for parents going through a divorce.
Not quite on the complexity level of Game-of-Thrones’ families but a complex situation none the less, we can all find ourselves in complex situations or overcomplicating things to the point we no longer understand.
As I discovered with my mobile, and this family discovered through divorce, when we don’t know how to manage is usually when we’re at our most vulnerable and, because pushing back is the hardest and taking back control is hard work, that’s the time when something/someone reliable to lean on is needed; not any old metal-fatigued crutch or an abstract one that inhibits growth.
My suggestion is to hijack the convoluted and take back control before things get complex and ugly. Yes, it can be hard work, but not as hard or painful as having to search out ‘crutches’, remove them and maybe find uglier hidden behind. That can be a dark place. And, when related to some finance, the long night facing off the Army of the Dead isn’t as claustrophobic: it’s a challenge figuring out who’s fighting who.
