Once upon a time there was a new discovery called internet. It was a strange but magical thing. It was difficult to learn but it could do wonders. At the beginning only few could have access to it as it was quite expensive and not widely available. As time went by technology developed WiFi so that internet became an everyday tool. Anyone could have access to it even at remote places.

Today our lives are build around internet. I’m not only referring to our children’s interest – even addiction sometimes – in gaming. We, adults, use it even more: for work, for social connections, for personal and business transactions, for shopping, for play… As a matter of fact the way we communicate has changed because we spend so much time on the internet. So what happens when your household WiFi doesn’t work?

I’ll tell you all about it as I came face-to-face with this exact situation a couple of weeks ago. At first our provider told us the problem would be fixed in a day or two. Then they assured us everything would be up and running in three days. We ended up with no WiFi for two weeks. Apparently there was a technical problem in the greater area and it took some time.

My initial emotion was frustration. Two whole weeks! Can you imagine? Of course it was a great opportunity for our daughter to stay out of screens and engage in various other fun activities. But how about my husband and myself? We very often work remotely. That particular period we also had to do lots of tax-related work online. Eventually we prioritized our projects, our needs and our wants and this meant that some activities – my online yoga classes for example – were put on hold. We used sim cards to create Hotspots but we also discovered nice cafes to work from. Not only did we cope with the situation, we enjoyed the time that was “freed up” with boarding games, walks and interesting talks.

Yes, we did find solutions and no, it was not the end of the world. But this got me thinking. Amazing how excessively dependent on technology we are today. And I’m definitely not saying technology is bad or that we should avoid it. I’m just questioning this dependency and wondering about possible alternatives. It’s always good to have a plan B and even a plan C as it’s always helpful to find the good – however well hidden – in any adversity.