When the kids began using our computer's word processing program, one of the very first things I taught the kids was how to use the "Undo" button. This nifty little button was able to reverse most of the errors that occurred during their typing. It brought back lines of text which had been accidentally erased. It turned off all sorts of functions that even I didn't know how to otherwise undo. (My son, even from a pretty young age, was quite good at discovering how to use various functions in the program and never once deleted my hard drive. I learned a few things by watching him!)
I was thinking today that sometimes I wish life had an "undo" button. Perhaps it could reverse time so that I could take back something I said. Perhaps it would allow me to change my tone of voice or the look on my face which often says more than the words themselves. Maybe it would help me, after seeing some end result, to go back and do something over a little differently, kind of like I "undo" some formatting that I thought would look good, but didn't.
Maybe I could press "maximize" to maximize my time or the money for my budget. Maybe I could "minimize" all of the things that get in the way of our time as a family or things that become stressful. Could I squeeze together my "margins" so I could get into a new dress? Could I "insert" some time to read a great book for myself?
Of course, if I had an "undo" button, maybe others would, too. Maybe they would go back and delete something that seemed embarrassing to them but brought joy to me (like those cute things our kids do before realizing that someone's watching).
It was just a fun opportunity to remind myself to think before I speak and act. When I get typing quickly, for instance, I tend to make more mistakes. The same is true when things get crazy around here.
Until I get an "undo" button, I've decided I'm going to just be content with my "home" button.
