Default

I have been working too long with technology.  As I consider deeper aspects of life, computer metaphors come to mind.  I have been working with my own default settings.

What I really mean is our basic response to life.   In coach talk it is like muscle memory for sports but for life it is those response we do without thinking.  And honestly, most of the time those responses are negative.  We get home from work and we want to relax but life challenges us with something and we become snippy.  Or we see that person, a colleague or student, we just don’t get along with and we start thinking some negative thoughts about them.  A default setting kicks in.

I am working on mine.  To be honest, I am trying to make my default settings reflect love.  Not the Care Bear, “let’s all hug” type, but the basic strong and understanding love that allows me to build strong bonds with people in this life.

As a parent I get to test this new setting out every night right now.  My youngest daughter is getting out of her bed at least three times a night.  She makes her way into our room, sometimes crying, sometimes silently until she asks for me.  Any parent will agree this is one of the toughest parts of parenting.  Being awaken when you are finally sleeping well. I have not always handled this well; especially on the third or fourth or firth time she finds her way to our room. My default setting has been negative.

But I am working on that.  I breathe in, checking my attitude, and hold my little girl as she drinks some milk.  I gently put her back into bed, cover her and check on her sister to see if she needs her blanket adjusted.  In a few minutes I am back under the blankets, still hoping that that was the last trip of the night, but knowing that I didn’t snap at her, or infuse the situation with a negative vibe.

It is not easy resetting the default.  Like a computer or iPad, you have to go into the settings and adjust things.  But if you do spend that time making the adjustments, the computer or iPad ends up working so much better for you.

So it is in life. Spending time working on our default settings can make this day work so much better for us.