Forgetting my Briefcase

We all have our routines in Life. When the routine is disturbed we feel that sense of anxiety.

For me, it is my Morning routine.

The alarm goes off and I begin a 45 min routine of getting ready for my day at work.

Unfortunately on some days something happens differently. I need to take out the trash. Or I get a phone call, or my wife wakes up and engages me in an unexpected conversation.

Today - I needed to write down some notes to myself for later this week. And my car wouldn't start - so I needed to use that jumper battery my parents gave me for Christmas last year.

Inevitably, this throws off my routine and I will forget something.

Sometimes - it will be a forgotten cell phone, or packing a lunch . . . today I forgot my entire briefcase.

I parked my car in the garage and actually grabbed for a handle that was not there in the passenger seat next to me.

Panic set in for a moment when I realized what had happened.

I was angry, for a moment, at myself for forgetting this most essential tool.
It was followed by complete anxiety !
--- My day planner ! It is lost - how will I know what to do today ?
--- My thumb drive ! What if I need to save an important file and transport it ?
--- That stack of papers ! What if I finally decide to sort through those papers in my briefcase and actually find some use in them.
--- Extra pens !
--- That picture of my family !

Of course, I was eventually able to calm myself down.

I realized that I would be able to sufficiently pass through the day with what I do have with me.

Sure - I might go home at lunch time and retrieve my briefcase - but perhaps it is not as essential as I think it is.

This little drama repeats itself each time the Morning routine is disturbed. Even if it is my cellphone or my lunch bag that has been forgotten.

I often find great comfort in the morning routine. I like to think that I have it all down to a science and that I have planned everything perfectly . . .

What a grand Hubris I have !

Days like today - I decide to laugh at myself.

I shall not let --> hubris + ate = nemesis

Instead I choose --> hubris + clarity = comedy


Perhaps I can also find comfort in that. The self assurance that I may safely continue my day with only the head on my shoulders and the keys in my pockets.


TJ Paladin
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Every man is important if he loses his life; and every man is funny if he loses his hat, and has to run after it.
G. K. Chesterton - Charles Dickens