Monday, April 14, 2014

The View From The 21st Century

I am writing this on my brand-spanking-new laptop computer complete with all of the bells and whistles, some of which are so strange looking that I have no idea what they are for. That's okay, like everything that has been coming at me since we entered this new century, I will figure it out by and by.

I have been debating the pros and cons of buying a new computer for many, many months now. Did I really want to go to the expense of a whole new laptop when I might be able to get the old one upgraded again? Did I really need a web cam? Plus all of the updated software I needed (I was running an old Word Perfect program that was just a step up from a chisel and a stone). Finally, I sat myself down and gave myself a good talking to:

 "Listen, girlfriend. You always settle for less. You always settle for make-do-with-what-you have.
You use that laptop every day. You use it to write your blog and to work on your book. It is
not compatible with anything created after Adam and Eve! You Deserve A New Laptop."

Never in my entire life had I told myself that I deserved anything .... well, I mean, other than that dish of watermelon sherbet I had after I did that 3 1/2 mile walk on Saturday. I mean something big. I had never allowed myself to believe that I deserved to treat myself to something that I wanted badly. I thought back to a video I had seen of a program that Life Coach Cheryl Richardson had done for PBS some time ago. In it she challenged us to be willing to "give up good for great." An upgrade on my 8 year old laptop would be good. New software would be good. A brand new laptop with every I needed and wanted on it would be great.

So I went for great. I'm probably going to be playing with all of the new apps and buttons for the next 6 months at least. Rather than being overwhelmed by them as I would have been not too long ago, I told myself that if I could figure out how to set up a blog site by myself, I could figure out all of this new stuff as well. Wait until I figure out Skype! Won't my grandson be surprised when Grammy hows up waving to him from 200 miles away? Look out, 21st century, Grammy is hot on your trail!

And so it is.