Prior to purchasing an iPod Classic a few months ago, I thought of myself as fairly technologically savvy. However, as proven by a post three months ago (which you can read here), that was not entirely true. This week, I found myself in a similar situation.
I use the iPod primarily for my workouts. I quickly realized that my workouts are significantly more enjoyable when I am in control of what goes into my ears. Gone are the days that I have to endure through Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” or The Decemberists’ “Down by the Water” ad nauseum. Few things inspire me more than listening to Day at the Fair’s “Everything I’ve Ever Wanted” at the end of a long run.
Recently, however, the iPod was starting to show some wear. Occasionally I would turn set the iPod to “Shuffle” if I wanted some unpredictability to my workouts. Every now and then, the iPod would skip a track and go to the next. I figured it was because the file was corrupt and I needed to check that file out on my computer. Over time, however, more and more songs would skip. When songs would play, they would take a while to get started.
Yesterday my iPod finally got to a point that it wouldn’t play any songs. I let it cycle through over 100 songs, and it would not work at all. I felt extremely frustrated. It seemed as if life was pouring on me again. The past month has not been anything close to what I desired it to be, and this felt like it was just the icing on a fecal cake.
Instead of applying the “Woe is me!” strategy I used last time I had an issue with the device, I went online to see if other people had experienced similar problems. (First word of advice: If you’re going through something in life, there’s at least someone out there who has gone through it as well.) Of course, the exact problem was listed on an Apple help board. In the first response, it was recommended that the person experiencing the problem perform a “hard reset” of the device, and the problem should be solved. I gave it a try, and lo and behold, success!
Again, there are life lessons to be gained from my iPod mishaps. First, things can get out of whack over time. Like my iPod, these things often happen gradually. Every now and then a song might skip, or every now and then you might eat something you shouldn’t, say something you have no right saying, do something that is out of character. If it happens just once, it’s not something that we’re probably going to worry about. Yet if it continues to happen over time, these things could snowball and then there is a greater situation to deal with. If I had decided to reset my iPod sooner (or at the very least, read online about the issues I was having), things never would have gotten to the point they did. One lesson to learn is to be mindful of what is going on in your life. Self-awareness goes a long way towards preventing personal avalanches.
The other (and in my opinion, the more important) lesson to be learned from this situation is the value in hitting the reset button. Sometimes things don’t work as we would like for them to work. Whether that happens due to things in or out of our control is irrelevant. What is important is what we do next. Sometimes all it takes is hitting reset. I would have been out of a lot of money if I had simply given up on this iPod and purchased another, but all I needed to do was hit reset. Likewise, some situations in our lives may look bleak or dire. For one reason or another, they just aren’t working like they used to. Believe me, I know how frustrating and painful that may be. That doesn’t mean you have to give up. Hitting reset doesn’t always entail a change of scenery or characters in your story. Sometimes it just takes a change in attitude and perspective, possibly a clearing of your mind and a step away from things for a bit. Life can be frustrating. It can be painful. But before you give up, try a reset. You might be surprised by the results.
