Family Dynamics

When Lifetime TV’s new show Against the Wall debuted it was interesting timing.  The show is all about family dynamics and I happened to be at the beach at family reunion…so I was watching it with a few members of my family.

In the show, family and career choices are the source of friction when the main character, a female police officer, takes a promotion as a detective in internal affairs.  Her father and all of her many brothers (I stopped counting) are all police officers and she doesn’t tell any of them about her decision and stalls because they know how unhappy they’ll be.   We’ll see how the rest plays out in the show…which is very good and definitely one that couples can watch together.

In my family, we have all chosen different career paths and there would only be friction is someone in the family chose to take on a role that wasn’t one that would challenge them or help them grow.  Growing up, it was instilled in me that if one does what they love, the money will come.  My dad is a prime example of this.  He was in graduate school for agronomy back in the early 80’s but loved computers and technology.  I can remember finding him in the basement his face lit up by the green characters on the black screen, piles of punched cards next to him.  Eventually his love of computers led to the extremely successful career he has in technology today.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Well, doesn’t Jessica have a career a digital and technology…of course, there’s no friction there.”

True.  In a lot of ways I have followed in my dad’s footsteps and there is no doubt that I inherited my love of all things digital from him.

However, if I had pursued a career in anything other than what I love, he would have had a major problem with that.  Even if it were a career choice that he didn’t think would have longevity or pay enough.  Because in our family the most important thing is being true to oneself, not settling for less, and not being afraid to make mistakes so we can learn from them.

Every family dynamic is different.  And I enjoy watching Against the Wall because it explores the different layers of how family dynamics can affect various aspects of our lives.  Some we might not even realize.

Tune into Against the Wall on Sundays at 10pm ET/9pm CT.  And don’t forget to enter to win a $5,000 spa getaway for you and your mom.