Hit the Reset Button

Hit the Reset Button

I have great memories of working in IT. I was the only on-hand technical support person for a major insurance agency in 1999. We were preparing for a very terrifying Y2K. If anyone remembers the utter and complete chaos that surrounded computers during that time, then you understand the continuous movement and pressure of my duties. It was actually one of the best corporate time periods for me because of the daily and aggressive learning. It was very challenging and very rewarding. The end user solutions were normally small or easy for me but HUGE to the person having the problem. I always seemed like a magician when in all actuality I only pushed the cord into the monitor tighter or replaced the surge protector. I was always grateful for being rewarded with lunch or a thank you card but it was not rocket science.

I can tell you what I remember most. Whenever someone called me about their computer malfunctioning one of my first questions was always "Have you rebooted your system?" or "When was the last time you reset your system?" What is even more interesting, simply resetting the computer solved the majority of the problems that they were calling me about. People would call me near an emotional breakdown but by end of the call they would be thanking me profusely, merely because I told them to reboot. That was amazing to me.

I read the origin of the terms reset and reboot. There are some interesting facts in the history of both terms. There are also so many versions, explanations, types. I had no idea because it is common enough of a term for me to not have been concerned with a specific definition. The term reboot actually came from a phrase having to do with bootstraps. I thought it had to do with kick-starting. Here is an excerpt that I found pretty cool:

"Tall boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a boot hook tool to help pulling the boots on. The saying "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" was already in use during the 19th century as an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834. It appeared in a comment on metaphysical philosophy: "The attempt of the mind to analyze itself [is] an effort analogous (similar) to one who would lift himself by his own bootstraps." Bootstrap as a metaphor, meaning to better oneself by one's own unaided efforts. This metaphor spawned additional metaphors for a series of self-sustaining processes that proceed without external help."

Interesting. So the origin of the term comes from a physical process that turned into a metaphor that spawned into a universal term for computers, phones, game consoles, etc. Rebooting essentially starts an automatic, not externally aided process of steps that refresh a system. It refreshes, it clears, it restarts. "You will lose all unsaved data." is a warning that pops up on most screens. Losing all of the data in my heart system that I deem useless could help me to hold to what actually matters and be able to, keep it moving, forgive and move on without keeping the weight of the heart malware.

While I feel like I am constantly hitting a reset button of some sort in my life. it’s more of a testament to where my life and mind are. Honestly sometimes I wish parts of my heart had a reset button. I would be like …Oh no, that hurt, Ctrl + Alt + Delete. I would scream out, "DO OVER!", hit the reset button and it would delete the unnecessary stuff, the hurtful things. I realized, these painful things that I sometimes wish that I didn’t have to endure actually make me stronger, but more importantly they help me appreciate the good things, the sweet things, the small blessings. The reset button clears out the clutter and helps me choose to save what’s needed and let the other things drop off.

My main reset button is prayer. The other day it was warm sunshine and my Robert Glasper CD playing. My reset button can be anything, rest, singing, listening to calming music or talking to one of my wise sisterfriends. Your reset button is what makes you feel refreshed, encouraged and able to move forward. My birthday is going to be a big ginormous reset button. I do not have concrete plans yet but I am consciously going to reset and refresh physically and emotionally. So when you feel overwhelmed or like things in your internal life system are misfiring, hit your reset button.