“FATAL ERROR”

Fatal Error. That’s all it said.

I stared blankly at the computer screen.

Excuse me? What do you mean “fatal error”? I could feel my stomach hit my feet as I processed what was happening. As far as I could tell, it was as if my blog never existed. There was nothing there.

Just those two words illuminating a massive virus.

I panicked at first, then immediately felt regret for not backing EVERYTHING up. With some technical help, the full content of my blog was restored (Yay!), but I sadly lost the entirety of my subscriber list. I was heartbroken, knowing I wouldn’t be able to recover every single email address I had accumulated over the years.

With many steps ahead of me to get things back in order, and an excessively busy schedule at the time of this debacle, my next move wasn’t particularly effective.

I procrastinated.

A lot.

I’m talking award-winning procrastination.

Sure, the other things I had going on were good things. But in that season, I dropped my stabilizers—the stuff that centers me.

Writing. Exercising. Bible study. To name a few.

I allowed myself to get totally sidetracked. And after a while, I hit a new stride—a zone where those core elements of my life just weren’t there. I stopped looking for them, but I didn’t stop needing them.

My days were full but my cup was empty.

As my own list of things to restore was growing rapidly, I started to wonder if I had created another “fatal error.”

Have you ever been there? Ever mindlessly released something from your life that filled you? Something that was important. A good habit. A relationship. A favorite activity. A commitment. If you are nodding your head, I have good news. We can reclaim what’s good and get back to it! (Whatever it is for each of us.) Sean Covey said it well, “We become what we repeatedly do.” So if we just take that first step, leaving procrastination in the dust and choosing to go forward each day, we’ll get there.

I’m happy to report that I’m working my way back to a full cup, with renewed appreciation. And I’m super excited to reconnect here with all of you! If you received an email notification about this post, you made it back on my subscriber list. If you are reading this post but you didn’t get an email, subscribe now to receive an announcement whenever I post.

So long fatal error. It’s time to reboot!

“God specializes in giving people a fresh start.” Rick Warren