245. Power to Choose

For some reason, my home internet was very spotty this week, and it was pretty much unavailable most of the time. I called my internet provider, but they could not provide much help other than promising to send a technician later. (As of this writing, the wifi issue persists.)

Even though it was a few days, having no wifi was certainly inconvenient and annoying. I did manage to get things done using a cellular connection, but most things took twice as long to complete. It was also not easy handling complaints from my family members, as most of us are dependent on wifi to watch our favourite shows. Also, our Early Morning Prayer on Zoom was affected, as I had to switch back and forth wifi to cellular.

As my first daughter was complaining about not being able to watch the movie she picked during the family time, it dawned on me how much we rely on variable conditions, such as wifi, for our joy. So I told her, “Luyah, we can’t control wifi. But we can always choose to have fun with or without TV”. As I was saying it, it enabled me to see the situation with a new perspective and less frustration.

So the next day, I decided to live as if wifi didn’t exist. I used cellular to run Early Morning Prayer on zoom (I had enough data left), did my work on cellular connections, and decided to embrace this as my new norm. I found myself complaining less, but I felt “powerful” to choose my response.

As I was living without what I used to enjoy, I thought about Jesus. He had nothing lacking in heaven, but he “chose” to come to earth and live with limitations, just like we do. But he had joy in his heart, both in heaven and on earth. Because he knew that the Kingdom of God is “within” us. (Luke 17:21) A life that is too dependent on variable things is subject to frustration. But a life dependent on God who can work with all our life situations will always “choose” to find a way to have fun, regardless of absence or abundance of things. (Philippians 4:12) We always have “a choice.”