Systems Crash

by Todd Alan

It’s happened to me more than once – a systems crash on my computer where I’ve lost everything. And every time it’s happened, I discover that nothing I lost is ever really missed. Even though there were things I would rather have kept, nothing was totally necessary to move forward with my life.

Which got me thinking…

A computer crash is a fantastic metaphor for bottoming out in life. How desperately we cling to our vices, our “humorous” sarcasm (code for depression), our unhealthy relationships and self-deprecation only to find out, once we ditch it, that there was nothing to miss there at all.

Overwhelmed in our circumstances, overburdened with responsibilities, intoxicated with our substances and our stories, we do eventually crash…and most of us crash hard.

Any attempts to return to our old ways or use our old system is futile. At some point, we hopefully realize it’s not going to work for us anymore. It’s a completely broken system.

So what do we DO when our system crashes? We upgrade to a new operating system or a new way of existence. With a new operating system, we get a fresh start – new desktop, new files, new browser.

Our goal then is not to bog it down with the pop-ups and viruses and extraneous crap that destroyed the last one.

We need pop-up blockers to stop negative thoughts. We need smarter navigation to steer clear of viruses. When we encounter old, negative thoughts, we replace them with positive ones. When our navigation starts to veer off course, we ask ourselves – Does this serve me? Does this fit my core values?

It’s true we can’t just go buy a new addiction-free, character defect-free, neurosis free, negativity free “operating system.”

But we can become willing to give the old one up.

We get a chance to reboot. And once we become willing and decide that we want to reboot, we really do have a new operating system full of pure potential.