For example:   The television is on, but there’s no picture.

                        My wireless mouse works but my touch pad doesn’t.

                        The screen on my computer is frozen.

                        The vacuum won’t turn on.

                        My cable isn’t working – again!

The answer is always the same – so why do I keep asking?

This morning my iPod was acting up. The green light on the start button glowed; the volume button was slid half-way which usually blasts me out of the room. The cord was attached to both the player and the wall though I jiggled that just in case and slid the volume to high. The screen on the iPod said charged; I pressed the play button in the center of the pad itself; pressed the forward arrow to go to the next song. The new title appeared. I pressed the center play control again – Nothing, Nada, Non!

And then I hard my son’s voice in my head. Turn it off and back on. You sometimes just have to start over!!

Ahhh – start over. Those two small words. Isn’t that true of everything in life?

 In the local post office they have a white board with a quote of the day. I was in yesterday picking up my weekly General Delivery. The quote said – “You have to let go of the past in order to grab hold of the future.” It had struck a chord at the time, and this morning as I turned off the iPod and waited for a full ten seconds, I became aware of the truth of that quote and the truth of my son’s advice. It works every single time.

Turn it off, completely off and wait. When you press the button again, everything will have shifted and the music blasts, the computer screen flashes, the television has a clear picture, the vacuum roars to life sucking up dirt and debris.

You let go of the trapeze bar, breathe deeply, hang in the air for a few seconds, and grab for the next rung. Letting go is the only way to move forward no matter what life struggle you are faced with. I just need to remember it and make it my mantra.

p.s. yes, my iPod worked immediately……