I go through intervals of frustration, usually at night, when I feel like I’m rowing against the tide and still drifting in reverse (…but at least it builds muscle). I feel like I’m moving too slow with what I’ve been given to advance. Tonight I half-jokingly typed “How do I speed up?” into the Google search bar. I had decided I would play my joke out and read the first article that came up. Joke’s on me!
I think I found the answers I was(‘nt) looking for… or at least a good start. More remarkable things have happened to me on the internet before (like …oops, unintentionally meeting my amazing wife).
The result to my search tonight was a Microsoft article, giving advice on how to speed up a computer, but the computer tips quickly triggered parallels that I need to write out:
1) Remove Viruses
Once something that’s not supposed to be in my life crawls in and takes hold, I notice a lifestyle of bad symptoms. I tend to spend half of my time battling myself over things that were not intended and that are causing all kinds of miniature disasters, amounting to huge chunks of lost time and frustration. I know I need to take out the trash, instead of spending so much time trying to cover up the smell. It’s still garbage. I gotta handle the virus before I can expect for the machine to run properly, if at all.
What is the harmful garbage in my life that doesn’t belong? Trash it.
2) Free Up Disk Space
I am a master at filling up my time. I think we all are. There aren’t the hours in a day for all the good intentions, lists of “needs” and handfuls of vital tasks that develop in it. Again, contrary to my nature, I need to cut the fat of “zeal for the trivial” (also known as “sloth”) and become a lean, strong machine that can run faster, longer.
What is the well-meaning extra stuff I simplly can’t afford to hold on to? Let it go.
I am a master at filling up my time. I think we all are. There aren’t the hours in a day for all the good intentions, lists of “needs” and handfuls of vital tasks that develop in it. Again, contrary to my nature, I need to cut the fat of “zeal for the trivial” (also known as “sloth”) and become a lean, strong machine that can run faster, longer.
What is the well-meaning extra stuff I simplly can’t afford to hold on to? Let it go.
3) Speed up Access to Data
The longer it takes to get the correct data into my brain, the longer I’m stumped, waiting for it. I have these fragments of time that I half-heartedly search for the answers that I know are there. I don’t ever take the full measure of time to put all the pieces together like I need to. If I can defragment the time spent looking for answers, I just may have a large enough block of time to receive them fully, so I’m not hesitating for clarity and direction so often, for so long.
Plan a time to get answers. Plan too much time, rather than not enough. I need vision to survive.
4) Detect & Repair Disk Errors
I have to admit that, even if I get all the data in the right place, the storage device it’s on is sometimes just plain bad. I’m talking about my brain/heart/self. This can only be solved with surrender. I know I need to give up the “bad sectors” before I can get new ones. Then I need to ask for the new ones. There’s just no way around it. I’m a broken computer that can’t fix itself.
Which area of my heart/mind is just plain bad? I don’t need a little change, but reckless abandonment. Then I can receive a perspective that works correctly.
Which area of my heart/mind is just plain bad? I don’t need a little change, but reckless abandonment. Then I can receive a perspective that works correctly.
5) Boost Performance
When I was a teenager, first getting into building my own computers, someone described computer memory to me as “a bunch of little mans in your computer”. The more you have, the more tasks they can handle together, and at the same time. Harder tasks take more little mans. While sustaining all the vital tasks and maxing out your potential, you can’t take on more without just making it impossible to even continue those initial tasks. That’ll lead to a crash. Sometimes a good restart now and then will help (“when am I getting a day off?”), and then hit it again, but sometimes the only way to push through too many important tasks at once is to get some help. I need some “little mans” in my life… or any size really. I need some practical help with those things I’m straining to carry alone or without enough people.
When is my day off? I need a fresh restart every week. Also, who may be wanting to help me? Invest in people with the goal of “synergy”: everyone involved working together for the same goal. I can’t accomplish it alone and there are other people want the same thing as me, waiting to be involved.
6) Upgrade
Old software doesn’t work well in an environment where everything else has moved on. With everything constantly changing, each individual part has to keep on being updated, so it all keeps working together (“synergy”). As the seasons and situations of my life advance, I need to drop the techniques that worked perfectly yesterday and upgrade to something else. Having something that works fine, as compared to having something that works very well, is a whole lot like having something that’s broken …and does not work …and is a stupid, bad idea all of the sudden. I need to upgrade my techniques… how I handle this thing called life, to best fit the setting I’m in today.