What is your crutch?

I mean, we all have them. Multiple-crutches in fact. The coffee that helps you wake up in the morning for example. A small crutch to support you in moving yourself into the day.

Since becoming a blogger/podcaster I have started to find analogies in the most unexpected places. I've been playing quite a bit of Fifa 17 over the past few weeks. It's the first Fifa game I've played since 2003 (a lot has changed).

Learning to play reminded me that we use crutches all the time. You start on 'Beginner', then there is 'Amateur', 'Semi-Professional', 'Professional', 'World-Class', and 'Legendary'. Once I started winning 9-0 every game on Beginner it was time to move up a level. Then the same happened again and I moved up to Semi-Professional, and so on.

It's of little value staying at beginner because it proves nothing. Each crutch serves a purpose; to assist you towards the next level. This until (if it's your desire and you're willing to put in the hours of deliberate improvement), you will make your way to the very top rung.

The Big Bad Crutch

The word 'crutch' is usually talked about as a negative thing. Unhealthy behaviours that people use to cope with things in the wrong way. It's a word often used to describe dependency and addiction.

I think we sometimes fail to see where a crutch is a good thing in life. Something that assists, supports, and makes easier whatever it is we want to do. That's the purpose of a physical crutch if you break your leg. It takes the weight off the broken bone and allows you to continue moving, albeit with a little difficulty at first. When I move to the next level on Fifa I usually get beaten a couple of times before I find my feet and step up to the new pace.

It is a temporary support to enable improved functioning.

We can use this truth to make a big difference in our lives as gentle rebels. Recognise and seek out crutches that will help take us onward to the next level.

In this episode of the podcast I talk about some of my own crutches and how they've helped me. We also think about the dangers of letting a crutch take control beyond its allotted deadline or outside of the boundaries we set. And I share how I've come to see the terms 'introvert' and 'highly sensitive person' as particular crutches. And what that means for those of us who identify with those traits.

Can you think of a crutch in your own day to day life? What does it support and make possible?