Yes, I’ll admit it right off the bat, I’ve been experiencing some big challenges over the past few weeks. I’ve even toyed with the idea of giving up and going back to the “paper-pencil-stamp-paper-file” era…

That’s what challenges my computer gave me first. I consider myself to be fairly comfortable technologically speaking, but I completely lost a large part of my data, my files, my photos, my audio… THE PANIC! Would I have created all this to lose so much because of a machine? What’s more, a machine that’s supposed to save me time and efficiency. A machine that I had patiently programmed to automate several operations in order to be more efficient… Gone are my work playlists, my mood playlists, my meditation playlists… Gone are my downloads (some of which I paid enough for the privilege of watching/listening to at will)… A discouraged laughter yoga professional, that’s pretty rare! No matter how many questions I asked, no matter how many hopes I clung to, the gates of heaven remained closed!

What did I do? I “lived it to the full!” I allowed myself to experience all the emotions that were coming up. I cried. I said bad words (just a few!). I crossed my fingers. I cried. I negotiated with Great Wisdom, the Saints and the Angels. I cried some more. And finally, I gave in. All that data is lost? well, it’s lost.

• What was ESSENTIAL? I’ve drawn up a list.
• Have I got what’s ESSENTIAL? Almost, but not in the desired form.
• And now, WHAT DO I WANT TO DO, TO CREATE, TO BREATHE? Nice meditation project!
• Am I still healthy? Yes, even if my features are a bit tired!
• Am I still alive? Certainly!
• Am I still able to smile and laugh? My challenge to laugh 5 minutes for 5 days came in the middle of a crisis, so the answer is definitely YES!
• Did someone die because of this? No! If we exclude the machine that gave up the ghost…

What can we learn from this adventure?

• Always make a FULL machine backup
• Don’t put everything in Outlook! Keep another form of track of what needs to be followed up!
• Long live the paper diary, the notebook for what’s important and what you need to have to hand everywhere, all the time.
• When the machine shows signs of illness, deal with it IMMEDIATELY, without waiting for an unlikely miracle!
• Allow yourself to take deep breaths several times a day and look up at the blue sky, which reminds us that life is beautiful… in spite of everything!

That said, I apologize here to anyone who feels neglected or abandoned… my machine refuses to let me pick up where I left off! The alerts won’t come back. So if you’re reading this and wondering why I haven’t waved to you by now if I should, hold up your finger and tell me in a written or phone message “Uh…. Linda… still waiting!”

And that’s just the Computer Challenge part! There are the other challenges… But that’s another story! HAHAHA!

BREATHE LINDA BREATHE!

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

P.S. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!… Unless it was the fridge door that was left open….