Work at Home Success By Jill Hart
Mom Laughs By Cheryl Moeller
Simplifying Motherhood By Trish Berg
Ask A Twin Mommy By Cheryl Lage
Mothering By Heart By Cheri Fuller
Jelly Mom By Lisa Barker
Family Check-up By Sheila Wray Gregoire
Parent to Parent By Jodie Lynn
Moments for Mom By Elisabeth Corcoran
Making the Most of Marriage By Paula Friedrichsen
Debug and Restart Your Life
November, 2006
By Trish Berg
Technology was meant to simplify our lives, help us to get things done faster than we ever could before. We can microwave popcorn instead of burning the Jiffy-pop on the stove top - because no matter how hard you tried, you could never shake that foil pan fast enough over the burner.
We can talk to someone on our cell phones from anywhere at anytime - quite a stretch from having to twist and turn through the tangled fifteen foot phone cord as you walked around your living room on your black dial-up phone with a party line.
And you can visit just about anyplace in the world by logging onto the Internet and surfing the web - except when your computer acts up and you get error messages and warnings that make your face go pale with fear that a virus or worm has invaded your hard drive and is slowly eating away any material you have there.
Computers are great things when they work right. When they don’t, I know I want to pitch mine out the window lock, stock and barrel. And I am just about at that point this week.
Two days ago, my Outlook e-mail program began freezing up, locking my whole system when one message was highlighted. When I fixed that problem, I discovered it was only the tip of the iceberg.
Beep – “Runtime error, do you wish to debug?” Sure let’s de bug. Bong – “Invalid procedure – Some programs may not be installed properly. Restart your system.” Ok I can hit the off button. Beep – “Error – Some programs may not have launched properly – re-install and restart your system.”
I know enough about computers to know how little I truly know. I scanned for viruses and worms, None. I scanned for Spyware. None. I even tried re-downloading my anti-virus program which only made things worse.
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When all else fails, I know to pick a new system restore point. Done, several times. Last night, I finally gave up at midnight and went to bed wondering how much a new computer would cost. I have been out matched, out witted and out played by a machine.
What if life were like our computers. What if, when we were faced with a hurt feelings, unkind words or rude people we could simply shut down and restart our day?
Someone cuts you off on the highway - Beep – “There is a runtime error. Do you wish to debug your words and re-install your thoughts?”
Someone gripes and groans at you at work - Beep – “Invalid procedure – clear your folder history and restart your conversation.”
If life were like our computers, we could have second chances at the push of a button. We could debug our lives and re-install good moods, kind words, and loving actions.
If life were like computers, we could pick a life restore point and erase years gone by. I could pick my life restore point in my twenties, erasing stretch marks, gray hair, wrinkles, and at least twenty pounds. Then again, I wouldn’t have my four precious kids, so forget that.
I guess it’s a good thing that life is life and computers are computers. I would rather eat cookies than delete them from my Internet options folder. I would rather see the sunset and grow stronger from life’s challenges then be able to restart or reinstall a given day of my life just to make it easier.
And though clearing my history may sound good on some days, my history is what makes me who I am today, the good and the bad, the joyful and the sad.
As for my computer – I will be calling tech support today. As for my life - I think I’ll throw a bag of popcorn in the microwave, make some hot cocoa and call my girlfriend’s cell to chat. That’s usually all the life support I need.
Trish would love to hear from you at www.trishberg.com, or e-mail trishberg @ trishberg.com.
© Trish Berg, 2006-
Trish Berg is author to The Great American Supper Swap, and Rattled - Surviving Your Baby's First Year without Losing Your Cool! She has been a guest ABC World News Tonight, Midday Connection, and The Harvest Show.
She is an internationally known speaker for ministries such as MOPS, Hearts at Home, and in Australia on Parenting Seminars Online. She has written for Today's Christian Woman, MOMSense, CBN.com and P31 WOMAN.
For more information, check out www.TrishBerg.com