Ignoring the Mishaps

This morning I realized how attached to routine I really am. Usually, everything I need to grab on my way out the door is in one place beside my sofa: work bag, keys, phone, coffee cup, etc. However, this morning something was misplaced. Background: I had some friends over last night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (see previous post). We celebrated in a classic way: Mexican beer (which included Dos XX, Negro Modelo, and Orange Blossom Pilsner), watching "Family Guy," playing Scene It, playing Wii Tennis, and rocking some Guitar Hero World Tour. Classic, right? Point being, we were using the bottle opener on my keys, and so my keys ended up on my kitchen counter. Being as people did not leave until relatively late, I forgot to move my keys back to their normal spot. Another factor of the evening is that I had turned off my cell phone in the middle of the night (which I NEVER do).

These led to this morning's mishap: locking myself out of my apartment. Because my phone was off, I realized while grabbing my things to leave. So I turned it on and realized I had some messages. Preoccupied with that, I grabbed everything else (because they were in their proper spots), and walked out the door. Habitually, I locked the door knob from the inside on my way out. Door closes, and immediately the realization hits that my keys are on the counter. Thank god Regina has a spare key to my place and was delayed in her morning adventure because the line at McDonald's was too long for her liking. She was able to come save the day. As I grabbed my keys and restarted my venture to leave the apartment, I commented, "Well this is clearly going to be a good day if this is how it started."

Since saying that, I have thought about how I should not have. Now here is an opportunity to use the cliche "Don't sweat the small stuff." Boo, I refuse. However, it has made me think about how we often allow the little mishaps to pile up and ruin a day/event/week/whatever. Granted, sometimes it is just easier to use the mishaps to place blame for a bad time because maybe you do not want to think about the real reasons for a bad time, but really, why worry about it? Laugh! It makes for a good story, right? This morning I was able to laugh with Regina about how she knows how I feel after her own recent key mishap (although hers was much more permanent ^_^). It can be so easy to get frustrated, but laughing about it is so much better. So big deal, I lost 5 minutes of the morning. That is 5 minutes I was not in the office, 5 minutes I could just be with my own thoughts, 5 minutes enjoying Florida weather, 5 minutes that gave me a story to tell and a lesson to learn.

The other thing I could learn from this is how much habits affect our lives, but maybe that is another post for another day.