Restarting Life
May 9, 2020
I have a problem when it comes to my computer. Unfortunately, this issue is also reflected in my life. Here’s my challenge – I like to think of myself as a multi-tasker and will often have various demanding programs and windows open on my computer silmulataneously. My computer has some significant capacity with 24 GB of RAM so I can enable my disfunction but after a while everything starts slowing down. Programs I need to work are sluggish and my frustration increases as productivity decreases. Finally, I start to shut down programs I’m not using and when it gets really bad I restart my computer and only open the essential things needed to accomplish my task. But over time the pattern repeats itself and more is added without taking anything away.
The global pandemic known as COVID-19 has had a similar impact on my life. Without a desire to slow down or concede defeat, it felt as though my life endured an involuntary restart. Everything was shut down. Every activity and way of doing things was immediately gone. My initial reaction was to fill that space with all sorts of new things but just like with your computer, it takes some time for things to get up and running again. As I sit here waiting for the reset to finish – I’m pondering what is really needed. What is really important?
I don’t have all the answers to this question yet because I’m still weighing the importance of the question itself. When life begins to resume, what activities and things do I want to give my limited bandwith twoard? Will those things really help me to acheive what is most important or are they just distractions and leeches to what is most important?
I sense that we are standing on the threshold of a tremendous opportunity but I am concerned that many of us may squander this opportunity in our rush to just get back to ‘normal.’ What if there is something better than what we knew to be normal?