ASIAN PROVERBS: smooth sailing

Begin with an error of one inch and you will end a thousand miles off course

As a sometime weekend sailor I can testify to the truth of this proverb. However, in family mediation when I see parents who are child focused and struggling with the enormity of the challenge ahead, I find this proverb comforting.
 
The converse of this proverb means that, if an inch can throw you a thousand miles off course, the adjustment of an inch now can make an incredible difference to the outcome years in the future.

​No-one can reasonably expect parents who are separating to co-parent harmoniously and co-operatively from Day 1.  It is unhelpful and misleading to give parents false expectations that they can turn from ex-partners to collaborative co-parents overnight.  This type of transition takes work.  This proverb highlights that even small changes can lead to big results for children. 
 
It may feel like a small thing that a handover was done courteously and without an argument.  It is not.  From these small steps, co-parents can rebuild respect and trust as co-parents. In family mediation, we work with parents to construct this new paradigm of how they will move forward as co-parents. 
 
The most important step?, as always the first one.

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