For Injured Alabama Offshore Workers with Kids: A Structured Way to Think about Your Options

In an earlier library article about injured Alabama offshore workers' challenges, we talked about how tough it is for hurt and sick workers to engage in child care. Even healthy parents will admit that caring for young children and toddlers at times feels like participating in a never-ending triathlon or Ironman competition. If you are hurt or sick, and if you lack the financial and human resources to give your child good care, what can you do?

The "Tactics First" Mindset

The way most people respond is to start spitting out tactics: ideas which could help. For instance, they might say: "move closer to family," or "urge your spouse to take on more work to earn money to pay for extra child care." These tactical suggestions may or may not work, but approaching the problem first from a tactical level first is misguided.

The "Purpose First" Mindset

Instead, begin thinking about the problem from the perspective of purpose. WHY do you want to provide child care? What about your relationship with your children is important to you? Your answers could include things like: "because I want to love and bond with them" or "because I want to nurture them, ensure they have good nutrition, and protect their social development."

Positive Visualization

Once you have established the purpose - why you are so invested in caring for your children - engage in some positive outcome thinking. In other words, start thinking of best case scenarios without worrying about "how you are going to get there." As numerous philosophers of productivity have noted, it's very difficult to see the "how" until we can get a crystal clear picture of the "what" we want to achieve. So, spend some time really brainstorming and envisioning and fleshing out your ultimate child care vision, now that you have been temporarily incapacitated by your Alabama offshore injury. Where would your children go to school? What kind of care would you like to provide them? Who might be able to pitch in and help?

Analytical Contraction - Going from "What" to "How"

Once you have established a rich repertoire of potential "great outcomes," then it's time to work backwards and figure out how to get there. That is the time to consider all the tactics that we talked about earlier. If you go through this exercise, you'll see that you will spontaneously start to find tactics that help you meet your "best outcome" thinking. And you might even surprise yourself with the creativity of the solutions you find.

For help with any aspect of your Alabama offshore injury, connect with the powerful, astute team at Vujasinovic & Beckcom at (877) 724-7800 or www.maritimeaccidentattorney.com.