I often get messages from readers asking me how to cope with stress, anger, injustice etc. Those of you familiar with the systems that assess families with disabilities for funding, services and support know how infuriating it is. We are incorrectly assessed on a regular basis, delay tactics are used frequently (eg. You MUST attend this course or meeting or else you wont get any further help. Often that course or meeting is completely irrelevant and costs you time off work or childcare in order to attend, but you cant progress until you complete that “level”).

My husband was the first to liken our experience to a computer game of the worst kind. Each level is made up of endless bureaucracy and fighting. But you must complete it before you can move on.

After he told me this i started seeing parallels with my life and how I played Candy Crush. For those of you who dont know, Candy Crush is a simple game of moving candy around to make a line of 3. Destroy enough sweets or jelly boxes and you’re allowed onto the next level.

It’s been a really rough week here. Candy Crush is my release and I have been stuck on the same level for many days now. Yesterday I got bored with it, annoyed with it and downright fed up with it. I wanted to play the next level, why did I have to complete this one? It just wasn’t fair. I put my phone away in a huff and avoided it all evening.

This morning I tried again and lost several times. Then I stopped, took a breath and thought, “I have won over 2000 levels so far. How?” Because I persevered. I kept going. But one thing was super obvious. I only ever won when I had enough resources in the game, I took my time and I was level headed.

You will win your next level, whatever form that takes. Make sure you have what you need, dont rush the application or complaint and take a breath. Calm the mind. Because in the end if you can do these things, you will always win. No matter how long it takes.

Thanks for reading,

Danielle