I detest computer problems. I resent having to deal with these machines when they do not follow my wishes. They should just work. Because I want them to. They shouldn’t just… stop… working… for… no… good… reason.

I mean, everything was working fine a minute ago. What the F@%K just happened? And yes, I’d rather take a solid shot to the jaw rather than deal with tech support. Seriously. Take your best shot. Just don’t leave me on hold, make me listen to bad music, and then tell me it’s probably something on my end.

So what did Dr. Attraction do when he couldn’t access his websites the other day?

I panicked, of course. Hard.

I ignored the sound advice of my she-sage Karin and fired up the phone lines. Good ole tech support. Only took 20 minutes to talk to a person with a beating heart.

"Harry" assured me we’d get things right as rain. (Funny, his accent didn’t sound like any Harrys I knew…). After an hour of leading me through scores of setting changes and restarts, my computer would no longer even connect to the internet. I was going backwards.

I knew I was creating all of this. But I couldn’t stop myself. My ego wouldn’t let me. After all it was up to ME to handle it, right? If I didn’t handle it RIGHT NOW, well, it wasn’t going to get fixed, right?

Deep down, I wanted to just hang up, crack a beer, and watch the football game on TV. But I couldn’t. I had to "solve the problem." As Harry and I crossed the 2 hour mark together, I was referred to Level 2 specialist. At this point, I began typing in DOS codes for the next 90 minutes.  I’m not kidding here. DOS codes. That’s how deep down the rabbit hole I had fallen.

I was able to get back onto the internet, but I still could not access my sites. Three and a half hours later and I was still at square one. Harry told me that the problem made "no logical sense".

Exhausted, I believed his words. I got off the phone, had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and watched my Gators destroy Ohio State for the NCAA championship. I unplugged all my equipment and went to bed. In the morning, I plugged everything back in.

Of course, everything worked perfectly again. Just as it would have if I had just chilled out, let my mood (and vibration) shift back to center instead of spiraling into code red.

In this case, all I did was to unplug my computer equipment. That’s a great metaphor for when that surge of charged, reaction filled energy comes up. Unplug. Stop feeding the problem your energy. Take five.

The more I get in the habit of just sit with my problems for a bit instead of getting completely wrapped up in them, the more often I see my problems get solved for me.

Try it sometime. Even when it makes no logical sense. Or maybe especially when it makes no logical sense.