Just a little more....

This is short because I seem to have forgotten an essential item to survival: Knowing your limits.

All too often, especially when you've got an overwhelming list of work that needs doing the response is to "just get one more things done." I've been doing that "one more item" thing all night and now it's nearly 1am.

Health ought not to be sacrificed for a to - do list. So though I wanted to have a blog up and ready for you this morning, it's time to say enough.

I'm going to bed.

And you know what? I highly suspect you'll all still be here at a much more reasonable hour. 

What time do you quit work for the day?

The Survival Kit: Tools to Get us Through: PART 2

Iceberg Trio
Originally uploaded by Vampire Black Cat

Results 1 - 10 of about 2,060,000 for asperger's syndrome

Where in the world do you begin?

Have you ever seen a picture of an iceburg? Maybe one of those with a diagram that shows you just how one sits in the water? If you have then you know that most of the ice is under the surface, out of sight.

A diagnosis works in the same way. When you’re sitting in the doctor’s office and waiting for them to pull open that yellow folder and decipher all those charts and reports for you, you feel like you’re getting an answer. But the words spoken in the quiet of the tiny room aren’t the answer so much as a lead in for a lot more questions.

The phrase, “That’s just the tip of the iceberg” takes on a whole new meaning.

So like most web-savvy blog readers I’m sure you did exactly what I did. Google becomes your best friend and worst enemy in the space of keystrokes. And if anything you feel that you’re worse off now than when you began.

To survive life’s challenges the most important thing we need is knowledge. So when we set out to obtain that online there are certain questions to keep in mind.

- Who’s offering the info? A website maintained by Mayo Clinic might have more definitive answers on Alzheimer’s than someone’s personal webpage.

- What is the authority of the author? Personal experience websites can be great but check out the “About Me” portion of the page. Is this first hand information or second hand? There’s a big difference.

- Does the person writing this have an agenda? Let’s face it, drug companies off great info on illness, but they also sell the medication to treat it.

- Can this information be verified? If someone has a new treatment or therapy that isn’t listed anywhere else on the internet, it’s highly unlikely to be breaking news. Always do a further search.

The internet is one of the best tools for getting your iceberg, at the least, weighed and measured so you know what you’re dealing with. Next week, we’ll talk about cutting it down to size.

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, 

do not let them out of your sight;

Proverbs 3:21

In what ways has the internet helped you face life’s challenges?

The Survival Kit: Tools to Get Us Through: PART 1

knees
Originally uploaded by t-squared

“Where are the band-aids?!”

The scream brings me out of the manuscript I’m reading and for a moment I’m caught in a rush of thoughts, first and foremost being, “Which of the five kids just screamed?”

This hasn’t even formulated before I’m on my feet and en route with the surety of a mother’s inborn GPS that has already pinpointed precisely where the sobs are coming from.

A quick look reveals nothing serious but the skinned knee isn’t regular, “stand in the box like soldiers ready to do battle against dirt and germs” bandages…this is the gauze pad and tape variety, which is what prompted the cry in the first place. The spilled box of adhesives strips on counter and floor are mute testimony to the child’s attempt to find the right thing alone.

Like my daughter’s fruitless search for the answers that required mom to come through and point her in the right direction, so too do survivors sometimes find themselves adrift. How many times have we taken that thing that has reared it’s head in our lives and looked it with that puzzled consternation usually followed by a voice heavy laden with frustration, “What am I supposed to do with YOU?”

For us it was the oldest and his diagnosis with Asperger’s Syndrome. The internet gave information aplenty, but some of it was conflicting and most of it was, well, downright confusing.

This week in my blogs I’m going to look at how the right tools makes all the difference. The question is, how do you know which tool is the one you need for the job? When you’re facing a huge life challenge such as an illness or a special needs child you’ll quickly find that not every authority is weighted the same.

So where do you go? How do you find the tools you need? Join me this week and we’ll talk about it. Yep, this is a two-way street. Leave a comment and let’s get the ball rolling.

Where do you begin when life hands you a challenge?