Using the Orb of Rebirth

Sometimes starting over is the hardest thing to do. I have been using Habitica to track tasks and improve habits for almost three years. Yesterday I reached level 110 and decided to restart back at level zero.

The option to use the Orb of Rebirth

Once a player reaches level 100, stats no longer increase and the game could feel too routine. So they offer the option to use the Orb of Rebirth, sending your player back to level zero. At level ten, I can choose a new class and continue playing with a whole new set of tools.

But I also decided to reboot my work habits. I had been spending the majority of my time working from a location that was enabling unhealthy neediness. The stress has been building for weeks and I could not see a path to work my way out of the situation.

I need to go back to the basics

At the encouragement of my boss (whether he knew it or not) I realized that a reboot was needed. I need to go back to the basics and focus on my strengths. I need to give the best effort I can at the job I have been tasked with doing.

And that means sometimes saying "no", or "not right now". It also meant picking up my extra monitor and cup of pens and moving them back to my real desk - away from the overwhelming clamor for attention. It also means delegating more tasks, allowing others to win that love and affection.

There is a larger spiritual work in daily rebirth

Of course any tool with the name Rebirth in it automatically lends itself to spiritual analogy. You can see that I updated my avatar to phoenixes, the mythical beast that rises from the ashes. But rather than focus only on the initial moment of spiritual rebirth, I am reminded that the larger spiritual work is the fashioning of us into a closer likeness of Christ.

God is working in and on us every day. His goal is not to grant golden tickets into the kingdom but to transform us into the likeness of his glory. And it is difficult. It is difficult to remember. And even harder to accept. Every. Day.

And the thing that I had forgotten was how much easier life becomes, at least easy in the sense of less stressful, when I keep the main thing the main thing. When the less important has pushed itself to the forefront, try using the Orb of Rebirth and realign yourself back where you should be.