Do you know the least effective way to help someone?
Try to immediately solve their problems.
Tell them all the cliches for why bad things happen. Tell them why they’re wrong. Tell them about how their past decisions led to this moment of crisis. Argue with them about why you’re right, and they’re wrong.
How often do we try to fix other people when what they really need is to be heard?
I’m guilty of it, I know.
Our knee-jerk reaction when someone shows their struggle is to offer our insight. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily, but it needs to be near the end of a very crucial series of events.
In my lowest season, it wasn’t an argument that helped me get back up and press onward. It was something else entirely.