OK...I admit it...This Baby Boomer Diva is Computer Illiterate

I never thought I would ever go more than a few hours without being on my computer. It has become an addiction over the past year. I would rather be on the computer than clean my house. But on Monday morning, I got a major reality check when the machine crashed on me and kicked out all of the email contact data I had worked so hard to build. Plus, I was unable to do any of my normal networking. What's worst is I didn't (and still don't) have a clue as to how to fix the problem.

This frustrating situation got me to thinking about my life. What has happened to my life that I can't seem to live without a computer? It wasn't that long ago that I didn't even want to be bothered with the damn thing.

This frustrating situation also got me to thinking about how much more important it is to remain positive and focused when negativity and disasterous circumstances occur around you. The forces of negativity can be very powerful if you let it and it will seep into your own spirit and change your positive energy before you know it.

I must go back to the drawing board and re-examine my priorities.

I've Turned Into A.....

Oh, my God! I never thought such a thing could happen to me!

I’ve turned into a computer geek! Lord knows, I don’t know how it happened because it wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t even want to turn the thing on. I only bought one because I figured my teenage daughter would have to use it for research, essay papers or Whatever!

I’m a member of the baby boomer generation. We didn’t grow up with computers. Besides, what would be exciting about sitting at a computer all day? That, to me, would be the equivalent of a “time-out” or punishment. As children, my friends and I entertained ourselves outdoors with fun “interactive” games like Hide and Seek, Tag, You’re It!, Kick the Can, Double Dutch jump rope, Red Light, Green Light and so on and so forth.

Homework was done using brain power. And if you didn’t have it, you worked and worked until you got it. I’m not ashamed to say I used my fingers to do math problems sometimes. That may be because we didn’t have calculators, but we did have the Abacus. Remember that, baby boomer buddies? Reading was fundamental back then but we did it by reading the ENTIRE book---not using cliff notes. I’ll never forget the time my 9th grade English teacher made us read “Moby Dick” as an assignment. I thought she must have been insane! But, in hindsight, I can now say I’m proud to have read one of the classics from cover to cover.

But now here I am, thirty-five years later, doing the unthinkable. I wake up and---even before I’ve brushed my teeth or had breakfast---I get on the computer and start checking emails and responding to messages and browsing for News I Can Use for my website. But it doesn’t stop there. I’m BLOGGING….(a word that wasn’t even in my third edition of the American Heritage Dictionary)… and I’m also networking with other folks who, for Whatever! reasons, are glued to their computers just like me. We exchange thoughts and ideas and sometimes even prayers. I do take periodic breaks to do less important things like exercise, cook meals and clean the house. But after that, it’s me and my computer until bedtime.

I’m also learning there’s lots of money to be made through this machine! I haven’t quite figured out how that all works yet, but you can best believe when I do, you won’t be hearing from me as much anymore. I’ll be off somewhere enjoying the fruits of my labor and giving my fingers a much needed rest!