Still Running on Dial-Up?

We’ve had Wi-Fi for decades, but they’re stuck on dial-up—buffering through conversations, crashing when challenged, stuck in a system that no longer supports growth.

Sound harsh?
Maybe.
But most of us have been there too.

We forget that who we are isn’t set in stone.
It’s more like software.
There are versions, updates, patches, and yes—plenty of bugs.

Every new experience you have…
Every relationship, every difficult moment, every honest conversation—
It adds a line of code.
Suggests an update.
Offers a better way for your system to run.

But not everyone accepts the update.

Some people lock their settings.
They hit “reject all changes”
and treat their earliest version like sacred software.

Why?

Because change doesn’t always feel like improvement.
It can feel like loss.
If your internal operating system was built on a single belief, political stance, or worldview—
Any challenge to that system feels like erasure.

Like someone’s hacking into your core code.

Here’s what doesn’t work:

• Arguing people into upgrading

• Forcing downloads

• Copy-pasting your beliefs over theirs

Here’s what does work:

• Leave comments

• Ask questions

• Spark curiosity

• Create safe space for updates to run

You don’t reboot a person.
You invite them to run diagnostics on their own.

Questions worth asking:

• What version of yourself are you still protecting—even though it’s outdated?

• When was the last time you let someone change your mind?

• What part of your programming needs debugging, but you’ve been avoiding it?

• Who in your life is trying to offer you a patch you keep ignoring?

You don’t need to overhaul your system overnight.
But you do need to know this:

You’re not stuck.
You’re editable.
There’s always a better version waiting—
If you’re willing to hit “accept changes.”