You know how sometimes you’re just going along in life when suddenly you are faced with something you never planned on—and do not want to deal with? Well, that’s what happened to me last week. I guess you could say I unexpectedly tripped and fell headfirst into a phishing hole. (Yes, the spelling is deliberate.) When I received a slightly suspicious-looking notice in my personal email account, I had reason to think the attached file might be legit, and I tried to open it.
Next thing I knew, both of my email accounts had been hacked and I had malware on my laptop. It was hard to view email and impossible to send. I spent many hours on the phone with tech support, trying to fix a problem I didn’t understand. I don’t speak tech!
The issues quickly snowballed. Someone suggested I update the operating system, and that forced me to buy new software. But my email still didn’t work. I was changing passwords as fast as a model changes clothes, and struggling to recall the latest one. My brain was tired. And, of course, I was mad at myself for getting into this mess. The time, cost, and frustration of dealing with it all was getting to me. The word “overwhelmed” came to mind, but I was determined to fight the feeling. I knew I needed to keep things in perspective. In my book, there’s a chapter called “Sunglasses”, which is about how we see things. Well, this was a chance to put what I wrote into practice.
So, here’s what I told myself:
KEEP YOUR PERSPECTIVE
- Don’t go mountain climbing over molehills. While it was annoying as all get-out, I had to admit that, in the big picture, it was not serious. It was certainly not in the same category as something like a family medical emergency. There had been an invasion of my email account and my laptop, but not of my home or my bank account!
- It won’t last forever. Even though for days it felt like one step forward, two steps back, I knew the issues would be resolved within a couple of weeks.
FIND POINTS OF GRATITUDE
I do not need to be grateful FOR what happened, but I can find things to be thankful for IN the situation.
- I was grateful for the timing. This is a relatively quiet time of year. A few weeks earlier or later would have been much more difficult.
- If I had to be on the phone for hours, I could still appreciate doing so from the comfort of home with a hot cup of tea beside me.
REMEMBER, GOOD THINGS CAN COME FROM IT
I believe good things can happen as a result of bad things. Let me be clear: this doesn’t make the original event good. Hacking and phishing are bad. They are crimes. But I can still look for positives as a result. And looking for those things helps me keep my chin up.
- I am freed from the piles of junk email that were clogging my inbox. At least for a while.
- I now have an updated operating system, updated software, and a more reliable email server.
- After notifying people of the change in my email address, I heard back from people I hadn’t spoken with in years. How nice to get a hello from old friends and “Shalom” from my former Hebrew teacher!
I also borrowed a tip from the “Storms of Life” chapter of my book:
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS SITUATION IS STRESSFUL AND BE GOOD TO YOURSELF.
- Take a break and relax for a bit.
- Don’t take on any new commitments right now.
Consciously employing these strategies did help me cope. And while these computer issues are not among life’s most distressing problems, it gives me some comfort to know I have been practicing skills that will help me when life’s major storms do arise.
…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thes. 5:18)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans. 8:28)
*Photo credit: Dreamstime image #52033670.
