Blinking 12 on the VCR
“Technology is a wonderful thing and a bitch at the same time,” said my dad. You may be too young to remember a VCR or the “blinking 12 problem.” A VCR was this revolutionary device that let you watch movies from the comfort of your own home – which carved a chink in the movie theatre market and created a new industry – the movie rental business. You may have heard of Blockbuster…they were huge, emphasis on the were!
My dad suffered from the “blinking 12” and we often joked about this on my visits. My dad was an engineer and challenged himself to stay technically current. He was one of the first I knew who owned a computer. I cannot tell you how many times we went through the “cd dot dot backslash…” routine – for those around before Windows.
Looking back at this many years later, with me now in a somewhat similar situation, I can now see that the jokes had a little personal pain attached for dad. The sometimes-overwhelming reality of change AND the decision to keep up or just let the VCR blink. Which takes us to our CHALLENGE.
CHALLENGE: What is the “blinking 12” in your life? What “thing” do you want to accomplish and what is holding you back? What are the steps you can take to overcome the fear and inertia and get started?
For me, its 2 pronged – first, diving into the ‘social media’ pool and the second, is re-engaging my creative juices. Charlie in the movie The Santa Claus would tell me “You were just denying your inner child.” I have DECIDED that I am facing my fears, dealing with the inertia that has been holding me back and fixing my “blinking 12.”
You may not know it but writing these posts and POSTING them is a one-two punch. Sitting at my computer in the dark of morning has forced me to put my thoughts down…getting creative, re-awakening the inner child. POSTING them is another matter altogether. This required understanding the mechanisms of a website and setting up a blog. Investigating the HOW and WHY of Facebook, Instagram, and the like. Overcoming the uncomfortable in asking for help from the millennials and GenZ-ers around me. I can echo the words from my dad, “technology is a wonderful thing and a bitch at the same time” but I am committed. In the words of Steven Curtis Chapman, “sink or swim, I am diving in!”
The question for you - What is the “blinking 12” in your life? What “thing” do you want to accomplish and what is holding you back? What are the steps you can take to overcome the fear and inertia and get started?