Time for an Intervention?

When we hear the word “intervention,” we often think about addiction and the A&E TV series in which we follow a family that has given a loved one an ultimatum to basically shape up or ship out.  Obviously ,it’s never that simple and if you have been reading the Ask An Addict column in Kamloops This Week, you will have been informed about the ups and downs involved in the long road to recovery.The actual definition of “intervention” is “the act of intervening” or “interposition or interference of one state in the affairs of another.”I have been the recipient recently of a couple of interventions. One was during Christmastime, when  my loving cousin and her daughter gave me a gift, but first I was blindfolded and then led to a mysterious location. When I removed the blindfold, I was sitting in a hairdressers’s chair, where it became obvious my lack of attention to my lid was about to be addressed. I call that an Interhairvention.The other came a couple of weeks ago, on April 1, when the annual prank courtesy of my kids involved hundreds of people in Kamloops holding up blown-up poster boards of my worst selfies.I reckon that was an Interselfievention.The one thing about interventions is they actually do stem from a place of love and concern. I have seen people come to my matchmaking business as a way to help in an intervention for their loved ones as well. I have had parents contact me, concerned about the ongoing bad decisions their kids are making on the Tinder app. They hope I can intervene.I have had kids contact me for their parents and grandparents. They hope I can help them find a partner after divorce or the death of a spouse. Here’s the thing, though — of course my matchmaking business could help them, but I am certainly not going to sit around in a circle and be a part of that conversation.  If you fall into any of the above categories, here’s a gentle, sneaky approach that may do the trick.Think about cutting out this column from the newspaper and putting it in something your parents take to work — a briefcase, purse or lunch bag. Maybe send your kids the link to my website, Facebook page or Instagram account. Toss my business card in a gym bag, on a bedside table or on a home office desk.I am pretty confident once I have a conversation with your family member, and explain how much easier the dates I arrange are compared to the ones they are getting on Bumble, they will be off to the races — but not the kind of races that require a gambling intervention session.If you are a happy, single person who is ready to move on after being divorced or widowed, I can intervene.  Contact me by email at holmes@wheretheheartis.ca.