I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock through the cracks of my eyelids. 4:39. 4:39. 4:39. It was flashing. Bright red and flashing. Like a warning signal. Obviously the power had gone out sometime during the night and now the clock needed to be reset. That was an issue. But the first issue - and most important one- was what time was it really?
Time runs our lives. And depending on what the correct time was, I either needed to get up and make my way to the coffee pot and get my day started or roll back over and catch a few more z's. The only problem was I wouldn't know until I found the real time. I needed a backup. My alarm clock had failed me. It's blinking signified it was 9 minutes past my normal getting up time, but I knew that it was quite possibly the wrong time, and that was doing me absolutely no good. So I reached over beside me and located my cell phone. 4:10. Okay. Good. I hadn't overslept, and actually had a few more minutes to lie in bed and prepare myself for the day ahead. First thing on my agenda was going to be to reset the clocks, because I knew if the one beside my bed was flashing, all the other ones in the house were going to be flashing, too. And while holding those buttons down and watching the numbers flash by until it's back at the right place again is a tedious chore that I never look forward to, I knew I would have to do it to every clock in the house. Afterall, what good is a flashing clock?
Lying in bed thinking of resetting the clocks got me to pondering on the word "reset" and wondering what else in my life needed to be reset. My priorities? Bad habits? My schedule? My career path? My friendships? Relationships? How I spend my spare time? My attitude towards certain things or certain someones? I was quite startled to realize how long the list became - and how quickly and easily it came. I realized that there are several things in my life which are about as useless as my flashing clocks and need to be reset.
Oftentimes we go through life in a rut and don't even realize it. We get into our comfort zones and become complacent without even knowing it. We wear the same clothes, drive the same routes, eat at the same restaurants. We attend the same functions and go to the same meetings, often without even enjoying them anymore...just because it's what we've always done. We stick with the same schedule. The same habits. The same ol' same ol' everything. Just because its easy.
And then once in a while someone or something comes along and pulls the plug. Shuts off the power and leaves us flashing. Unexpected and inconvenient as it may be, sometimes we have no choice but to take the time to reset. I don't know about you but I don't like to be taken by surprise. I like to have at least some say over situations and that's precisely what makes me think maybe I should resest myself before a power outage comes along and does it for me. Now obviously that wouldn't have worked with my alarm clock this morning. No matter how many times I had reset it, the power outage still would have left it flashing. And life may do the same thing to me. And to you. No matter how many times we reset ourselevs, life may still come along and have its turn at us, too. But if there's at least one area in our lives today that could use some resetting...refocusing...rescheduling...rearranging...I urge us to take the time to give that chore - as tedious as it may be - the attention it deserves. And maybe, just maybe, we'll find ourselves back at the right place.
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