UNPLUG..WAIT 10 SECONDS…PLUG BACK IN AND EVERYTHING SHOULD WORK

Whenever one has problems with anything electronic, from computers, to digital boxes, routers and the like, the standard line from the technical support is "Unplug the equipment, wait 10 seconds. OK, now plug it back in. Now check to see if everything is working."  And like magic, 90% of the time this fixes the issue. 

The mystery of the electronic reboot, is truly no mystery at all. When one enables the shutdown of all extraneous "stuff" (yes, that's my technical term) that is running in the background, which is not required, and interferes with the basic functioning of the equipment. When it restarts, it is cleansed of all that is unnecessary, and you go happily on your way, until the next time it gets "gummed" up.

I was wondering the other day, after once again needing to do this "reboot" of one of my electronics, how this would work with our relationships, both personally and professionally. When things somehow go off the rails, or things are said or done which cause one to be "stuck", how cool would it be to unplug, wait 10 seconds, and plug back in!

Obviously I'm talking figuratively here, because putting your finger in an electric socket would cause a different type of reboot! Think of all the "stuff" you have running in the background (your brain) when having an interaction with someone. All these little synapses firing, sometimes help, but other times not so much. When in interactions that are difficult, or conflict oriented, we may cloud our judgement based on what happened with someone else 5 minutes ago, due to past history of a similar kind, assumptions which may be totally off the mark, and other reasons. (I wrote another blog on this "Misinterpreting the Message"). 

Just like a piece of electronics, there is extraneous "stuff" running in the background, directing our actions, sometimes with mixed results.

So think about what a difference it may make for you to look at an interaction from a blank slate perspective. 

So unplug, wait 10 seconds, and plug back in. Should work 90% of the time!