I am a fixer. When someone opens their heart to tell me their struggles, I automatically go into problem solving mode. Whatever the problem, big or small, my brain goes into overdrive and I just know I can solve it. If it’s a subject I know, like medicine, good. If it’s a problem I know nothing about, I try to learn how to help or find someone else who can. I believe this characteristic is part of the reason God allowed me to go through seven years of a whole bunch of stuff. I want to share with you two very important lessons I learned during my seven years battle with grand mal seizures, migraine headaches, and severe depression.
First, you never truly know how people feel until you have walked in their shoes.
During my first fourteen years as a pharmacist, I struggled with wanting to help my customers with their medical issues. I could tell them all about their medication, side effects, drug interactions, etc. What I did not know, however, is how they felt. I dispensed antidepressants, pain medication, anti-anxiety medication, and sleeping pills every day, but couldn’t understand the desperation they felt in their quest for relief. Well, God had a remedy for my problem. Beginning with migraines and then a seizure out of nowhere, followed by pain and depression, I received first hand training in empathy.
Second, no matter how much you want to help someone else with their problem, they must be ready to help themselves.
This one is frustrating. Now that I am on the other side of my struggle, I can see so clearly why I struggled so long. I had to learn the hard lessons myself. I was given advice time and time again to improve my health. Some good, some bad, and some just far-fetched and silly. The advice of the Godly people around me was good advice, but I could not or would not receive it. For whatever reason, I had to learn the lessons myself. God let me get to the end of myself before I could completely and honestly surrender myself to Him.I am still a problem solver, but I go about it in a little different way. Instead of trying to fix a problem, I try to help find a solution to the problem. The solution starts with Christ. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 (ESV)I now find myself older and wiser. It’s a shame those two traits go hand in hand. If I’d only known then what I know now…
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