I recently encountered a new life challenge with regard to a loved one's illness. I didn't know a lot about the illness, and I was very worried. Then, in the past few days, I turned to research--I read many, many, many articles about the situation, and that took the worry level way down. While it's still sad and worrisome to see a loved one ill, at least I know a lot about the illness now including what's within our grasp and what is out of our hands. This truly takes the worry quotient down and empowers us.
I've said it again and again, but it's so true that I am happy to live in an age when I can quickly research almost any topic to learn the truth of the matter. This helped me a lot as a parent and teacher, and now it is helping me as I face new challenges in life.
Research patterns that help me include the following:
- Googling the exact problem question such as, "How do I help a loved one that suffers from ____."
- Looking at the articles the search provides and reading a few of those articles.
- Then following the links and advice that seems reasonable from the articles.
- Using the rule of three--if three articles from good resources say the same things, then I trust that information as a plausible trend, and take the next steps which include expert advice and consultation.