The Right Click

Computers are so much part of our lives these days that it’s hard to imagine life without them.  It’s my belief that everything in life has something to teach us if only we look at it in the right way (through the right eyes?); so what can the computer offer?  Having just changed mine, I’m thinking of that dimension more clearly just now.  Like many laptop users, I think, I find that pad thingy at the front somewhat awkward, and prefer the ‘old-fashioned’ mouse.  It’s comforting, as well as easier, to feel at my fingertips that familiar left- and right-click.

As almost everyone knows, the left click is the one that actually does the work, in effect telling the computer, ‘Yes, I want to take this step.’  The right click, meanwhile, is arguably more powerful, in that it brings up on the screen a menu of useful ‘control’ options appropriate to the particular task you are trying to do.

Wouldn’t life be much smoother if we could be presented in the same way with a selection of options when we have to make an important decision?  My girl friend is crying: should I speak tenderly to her, advise her briskly to ‘pull herself together’, or say nothing, and wait for her to explain what is wrong?  My colleagues aren’t talking to me: was it something I said yesterday, or have I had one too many ‘business lunches’ with the boss?  The TV’s stopped working: do I call in the engineer, buy a new set from the store, or chat to the chap down the road who’s got several in his garage?  Even easier would be a selection of options where the best choice is already highlighted, and we simply have to say ‘yes’.

What we often forget (may not even realise) is that for so many of life’s crisis points, large and small, a source of useful options is available.  Often it is to be found gathering dust on the bookshelf ... the BIBLE.  As we riffle through its pages we can find guidelines that will fit almost every situation in life.  Look, for example, at Peter’s second letter, chapter 2.  Here we find potential answers to many world situations, as well as to common questions about our conduct in social scenarios: what to say, how to behave. 

How many of us question these matters at all, but simply let things happen?  If we were to look at some of the ‘right-click’ options, and reflect on what effect they might have if we tried them, perhaps we could influence the world around us for the better.  Conversely, if we think before we speak - or consider some of these ‘right-click’ options - we may say something quite different, or even decide not to open our mouth at all!

There are also warnings of stiff penalties for those who don’t heed the advice that is offered.  But don’t leave it until a time of need to look for the menu.  You know where the button is ... right click NOW!