Against my internal warnings, I decided to take my home computer to school to teach some software that my class hadn’t seen. A day later it blew up. A small metal clip that held the power cord connector vibrated out, found the place it could do the most damage, and then did it.
I now have a new computer that I didn’t want, that does things I hadn’t planned on doing. Now I could do them, if only I had the time.
Then my daughter and son-in-law tested positive for Covid. So, I’m on a required isolation vacation. Now, I have the time. (No symptoms except boredom.)
So, I’m relieving my recovery boredom with computer data recovery. Of course, my data backup strategies were ironclad – in my mind – so this has become a piecemeal process of extracting my SSD drive from the ghost of my old computer, ordering a USB C case, and waiting.
Problems Create Opportunities That Didn’t Exist Before
Waiting led to a lot of staring at a shiny new computer and thinking up things to do with all the new possibilities I have. What to do? Besides get a 5Tb cloud backup plan?
After lots of anxiety-ridden conversations with my wife (also on Covid holiday), I have decided. The decision is – drum rollllllllllllllll – to do exactly the wrong thing. I’m just going to begin.
No big announcements. No product launches. No promises or proclamations. No inspiring strategies. No wild claims. No five-year plans. No pestering emails. (Yet.) Just a renewed sense of purpose and some Covid-inspired urgency to do something worthwhile.
So, what is the point of this non-announcement? That it’s not about me.
It’s About You
I just wanted to point out that the rough realities of life are demanding but my response is still within my control. Is it a cliff or an opportunity to build a bridge? It’s kind of up to me. And, in a world where hardly anything is up to me, that’s inspiring.
It makes me want to attempt things that no one is qualified to do because they’ve never been done. Things that calmer circumstances and expected outcomes would never have inspired. Because big problems require bigger solutions and a life with no problems requires only a nap.
(Mmmm, remember naps? No? Me neither.)
Yes, I’m completely aware that some nefarious people out there create problems to put things in flux so that they can change the world. They are part of the problem. But how I react is totally beyond their control. And I have it on good authority that things will not turn out as they planned.
Now, I have no desire to pull out all my ideas and parade them around for you. I have no idea what I can even get done in the time that I have. Because I obviously didn’t plan to be here.
I’m guessing you didn’t really plan for this year to turn out like it did, either.
The bigger the problems, the bigger the dreams?
But hey, we survived 2020. I wonder what else we might accomplish? What problems/opportunities did this wild year provide for you? What things could you do that you wouldn’t have imagined a year ago?
Problems prod imagination. Imagination inspires dreams. Dreams change everything. Everything! We certainly had bigger problems this past year. That’s a lot of fuel for your dream machine.
So, what are you dreaming, now?
Photo by David Veksler on Unsplash
