Is It Time to Hit the Refresh Button?

What do you do when a web page doesn't load properly or fully? You probably hit the refresh button.When you do that, the action techno-magically gives the code a chance to shake off any bugs, and display the page as it's meant to.A friend wrote to me:

"I remember after my cousin died after a freak accident, I had similar feelings of needing to step up the pace in my own life. It can become all too easy to become complacent and comfortable in our own routines. After the initial sadness begins to wane, death (especially an unexpected one), to me, has always served as an important time of reflection and reevaluation; a time to rid myself of what isn't serving me and then further embrace what is. If we don't do this it can become too easy to go the other way."

My response was:

"I'm with you on the reflection and reevaluation. I find I do the same thing, and not just with the passing of people in my life. I oftentimes find, when anything that's more than a smallish blip on my timeline happens, that I press the pause button to take a look at my life."

It's all too easy to become complacent and comfortable in our own routines.

When life doesn't display or load properly, it might be the ideal opportunity for reflection and evaluation, and then a refresh. It's a three-phase process that can result in an ideal display, just like a web page.

Reflect

Questions to ask yourself in this phase:Where am I?What am I doing?Who am I doing it with?

Evaluate

Questions to ask yourself in this phase:Where am I heading? and... Is this the right direction for me? If "no": What's my new direction?Is what I'm doing getting me there? If "no": What can I do differently?Are the people I'm with hurting my trajectory? If "yes": What changes do I need to make to those relationships?

Refresh

There are no questions to ask yourself in this phase. This is when you implement the changes - even, and perhaps especially - the difficult ones.This is when you take action to ensure that your life will display the way you need it to. (Which, if you're aligned with your soul purpose, will also be the way you want it to.)This is when you give yourself permission to make your life all about you, so you can bring your best self to everyone you meet and everything you do.Over to YouHave you ever hit your life-refresh button? Is it time to hit it now? What's one thing you need to change?