Changing the Routine

I'm in the process of setting up two new computers for myself. Being that I travel a lot, I have a pretty serious set up on my laptop. I also maintain a 'base' machine at home. I usually upgrade my machines once every 3 years. I must admit that I don't look forward to this.

The process of setting up new machines is time consuming and a bit stressful. I have such a 'complex' computing environment, that reconstructing it is not trivial. Getting everything in the right place, and getting it working together is always a challenge.

This time, I have the added complexity of switching from the Microsoft XP operating system to Windows 7. Now, for most people, this will be a pretty easy switchover. For me, because of the sheer volume of various tasks for which I use my computer, it will not be quite so easy.

Even the environment for copying files over a network is different for me. Then there are the issues of what I have 'permission' to access on the various machines and backups that I'm copying from. I get very frustrated when I can't do the things I want to do quickly and easily!

I'm in day 2 of the massive upgrade right now. I'm no where near done! I'm having to learn a lot of new things and resolve a bunch of perplexing problems. All of this, of course, comes at a time when I'm very busy and under some serious time pressures and deadlines.

Isn't that so often the case? We feel stretched to our limit of coping and handling life, and then wham-o! Something else comes along to stretch us even further.

I know I'll get there. I am sure that before too long I'll have this all sorted out and put together the way it needs to be. I'll have to accept a lot of change in the process. That is something I often don't take to naturally.

My new laptop is a wee bit larger than my old one. I travel a lot, so having a lightweight, very compact but powerful computer is a must. I've bought the same model of laptop computer for the past 8 years. This time, however, they have discontinued the model!! As a result, I got the 'next best thing' which is a little larger, configured a bit differently (with regards to how all the cables attach to it), and neither of those situations is ideal.

My attitude about the 'changes' I'm having to adapt to is just as important as the time I have to set aside for making this all work out. Each time I find myself getting upset about 'what's different' I remind myself that I have some new features that I didn't have before. It's a trade off. The machine is bigger, but I now how a built in DVD/CD drive. I didn't have that before. The machine is a little heavier, but I have a lot more battery life than I did on the old one. The machine's port configuration isn't laid out the way I like, but it was less than half the cost of my last laptop.

I'm working with myself to see that the change, while a bit challenging to digest, comes with some extra benefits.

That's how change usually is! When we are going through change, we need to look for the benefits of what is happening, as well as have some compassion for ourselves over what is different, strange and challenging!

Change is inevitable. It behooves us to cultivate some tolerance for this process... and some compassion for ourselves as we go through it!