Wiping the Computer Clean

I once had a cheap graphics program installed on a computer.  I am by no means a computer whiz, but I was able to use the program to do some good work; however, the program had a glitch.  From time to time as I was working along, it would freeze. Across the screen would come a message…"This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.  Would you like to send an error report?”

Over time, I figured out what the problem was.  It always froze when I was choosing fonts from the list in the program.  So, I developed a work around.  Instead of picking the font in the graphics program, I would open Microsoft Word, pick the font and then return to the program…Problem solved!

But was it really?

Finally, I realized that I had been making allowances for a cycle that I knew was going to repeat itself rather than fixing the root problem.  Then, I realized that sometimes, I lived my life like I operated the glitchy program.  I avoided potential cycles and went out of my way to make allowances for things that kept coming up instead of dealing with the root causes.

Ultimately, a friend fixed my machine.  He wiped it clean, reinstalled the programs and viola, the problem was solved.

A Question…

Are there areas in your life where you know that you will get the warning, "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down”?  Are you making allowances?  Or have you made the decision to wipe the slate clean, start over and finally make it work?