Resetting the Box

If there’s hell on earth, and it’s not the DMV, then it’s calling Time Warner Cable. After an endless wait, I described my cable issue and was instructed to unplug the cable box, wait two minutes, then plug it in again. On the surface, the box looked the same as when I called, but inside, I was told, it was resetting.

If only it was that simple with our lives. No matter how hard I try, my life begins to sputter, blink, and not go as intended over time. Noticing it, I try and adjust this or that, but eventually it comes down to resetting the box. I need to unplug, wait, and let whatever’s inside reset.

It sounds so simple, but I can see countless times when I should have reset the box, but didn’t. Talking with others, I realize I’m not alone.

Listening to the woman struggling with sobriety in the midst of her self-created chaotic life, I recognize her need to reset the box.

Watching the couple, whose marriage is beginning to crack, plan a cocktail party rather than spend time alone, I see their need to reset the box.

Having coffee with a priest whose ministry had become a career, one all about him, I recognize his need to reset the box.

At a local high school, there was a student whose growing popularity caused her to become the class entertainer, instead of her authentic self. She needed to reset the box.

The examples are plentiful, but so are the ways to reset the box. Maybe its awakening early and spending time in prayer, meditation or hard-to-find silence. Maybe reading scripture, a daily meditation book, or listening to music will help. Maybe it's going for a walk, exercising, or arriving for a meeting early instead of arriving at the last minute.  Maybe the answer is scheduling a cell phone free evening or meal.

All of our lives spin out of control from time to time, and even when they are going smoothly we can lose our focus. The question is, when that happens will we unplug, wait, and let the box reset?