I’d like to take you on a little journey into a space where you can explore. One that will allow you to expand your mind beyond what you might currently know.
Imagine if you will, you have just purchased the latest and greatest supercomputer. It has the newest technology with the potential to run for 100 years or more, outlasting any other computer on the market. It arrives in pristine condition, shiny and sleek with unfathomable bells and whistles. You unpackage it with the utmost care and attention as to not damage it. You spend the time needed to get it set up with the programs and applications that your experience would suggest you require, and that others have advised. Gingerly, you begin to explore what your new machine can do and over time, you begin to gel together, learning each other’s language and nuances. As long as you don’t strike any of the wrong keys things flow optimally, and even if you do, it seems to recover quickly. You are fascinated by its ability to uptake and express information at a rapid pace.
The first few years go by and things only get better as programs increase in efficiency with repeated use. You are thrilled with your new computer, excited by all of the possibilities you can achieve together. It seems as though nothing can get in your way.
You and your supercomputer happily work together for a number of years, despite the fact that you start to notice a few little glitches that don’t seem to align as well as they could, but still you carry on with your intentions, running the same programs that you always have. It has worked up until this point, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t keep going, right?
15, 30, even 60 and more years go by.
Slowly but surely over time your computer’s optimal capacity continues to decline, until one day it can only manage the most basic of tasks. How can this be? You were promised technology that would last a lifetime, Technology that far surpassed any other, only now it would seem your computer is completely outdated and for lack of a better term, broken.
You invested a lot into this computer. You made a commitment to keep it for life and so you keep it going as best you can, running the few programs that still work, accepting that this is just the way it is, even though there are days you wish it could be better. Your own personal output begins to diminish as if your computer is a reflection of your own capacity. Just a few more years to go …
It has worked hard over all of these years, but as you approach 80 years in, you begin to accept that the end of days is coming for your computer. You look back upon its life, impressed that it lasted as long as it has, yet sad at how its life turned out. If only it could have kept some of its original resilience. If only it could have functioned better as the rest of the world shifted, changed and evolved around it. You slowly start to feel the sense of grief and remorse creep in.
Then one day, a few more years down the road, it happens. You try to turn your supercomputer on to no avail. The bittersweet day has come. It stays asleep. Forever.
The time has come to return your computer to the earth’s technology. You lovingly pack it up, every so cautiously as to not scratch or damage it, even though it is dead. You drive to where computers go to rest and gently offer it to the person behind the desk. Their eyes light up at the sight of such an exquisite machine. They have never seen one in the flesh before and begin to ask about its amazing long term ability for resilience and performance. You look at them, somewhat confused by what they are saying. Even though you bought it thinking the same thing as they, you had long since accepted that it would never be that way. It would never be as good as you thought it could be. You share your sadness and disappointment only to find a blank stare coming back to you.
“You recalibrated it along the way, right?” They ask …
You are frozen. Shocked by their question. At a loss for words.
“Recalibrate?” You say back.
They continue to tell you of all the ways this machine was designed to be recalibrated and updated to keep its optimal and resilient form for the duration of its life. You can hear the words at first but then only see their lips moving as your mind reels through all of the struggle, disappointment, depressing and frustrating days you endured. If only you had known. How could you not have known?
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Seems crazy that we would go years without updating and recalibrating our computer, right? Now, Imagine this machine isn’t a computer at all.
Imagine this machine is really your mind.
Your entire life you have been running old, outdated programming that has diminished your ability to function optimally, overtime getting less and less efficient at doing life. You have struggled to cope and enjoy your time here. Many days you questioned your purpose, innately knowing that there has to be a better way, but no one ever told you. No one ever showed you the way.
The mechanics of our minds are incredibly strong, with elastic-like resilience. We are seeing this emerge more prevalently in science and spirituality. We no longer need to accept that the programs we were instilled with are the ones we need to keep. Just like a computer we can learn to shut down old programs that are running in the background, bogging us down, and we can update and reprogram information that is no longer allowing us to function optimally. With awareness and intention, there is space to recalibrate and update our pictures so that we can live with the pure purpose of joy!
Recalibration can come in many different shapes and forms, each personal to our own operating system. For some this might look like personal development or a dedicated spiritual practice. It might also come in the form of self care, reading or authenticating connections with friends. There are countless ways to explore recalibration, and the most beautiful part? It’s never too late to recalibrate.