When Things Go Wrong

Have you noticed how much reality has worked its way into the fantasy world of television? It was once the great escape from everything that we faced in our day; a place where things hardly ever went wrong. Unlike our real world situations were resolved in the span of 30 minutes. The Brady Bunch was famous for this. Now television writers seem to want to remind us of the imperfections of our lives.

Yes, life is imperfect. It is never a matter of "if" something will go wrong but "when" it will go wrong. So what do we do when it does? The easiest answer is "go with the flow" and sometimes it is all we can do. Sometimes we just have to accept that our computer broke and now we have to "make do" with what we have. Sometimes we need to accept that we have to start at the beginning because we failed our test even though we put in all those hours of study. Yet, it is also healthy to consider a "cooling down" period as we adjust to the new reality.

I have the nature where I want to rush right into "getting on with it", trying not to give much thought to the situation. If I have to start over then I will do just that. Yet, where is the learning process in that? What is the sense in starting over if I am not going to learn anything in the process of it all. If my computer broke perhaps I should take time and consider how I used or abused it to avoid doing the same to any new computer in my future. Or what about the example of the failed test? Would it be wise to rush right into re-doing the work without considering where my mistakes were made?

I believe it is a prudent move to take the time to reflect on all these matters to save ourselves time, money and heartache in the future. Reflection is important in every area of our lives. We should try it more often.