While transferring a bunch of stuff between an apartment and two vehicles yesterday, I somehow lost the key to the car Carol and were going to drive in to meet our daughter for lunch. I had already locked all of our clothes and stuff in the trunk of the car we intended to drive, but could not find the key necessary for starting the car or unlocking the trunk. We had a second car available, but our stuff was locked in the car without a key. I retraced my steps several times, but even though I had had the key in my hands fifteen minutes earlier, I could not find the key. Our daughter was already waiting for us at the restaurant. With disgust Carol said, "We'll just have to call our daughter, tell her to eat lunch without us, and call a locksmith." I said, "Okay," while I continued looking for the key. From my POV I hoped to find the key, but it didn't matter what happened next. We had no key, and I would either find it or we'd have to call a locksmith. Simple. Nothing to think about. Logical. I would either look, look, look or call call call. If anybody should get frustrated or angry over the situation, so be it. Ha ha. It wouldn't be me. I would be calmly looking for the key or calmly calling a locksmith. Fortunately, Carol remembered that we had a second key hidden behind the front fender, so I retrieved the key, and we proceeded as planned. If we had NOT found a key, I would NOT have been frustrated or angry. I would NOT have felt any guilt or regret or remorse or shame at losing the key. I would have simply done the next thing that needed to be done. What is is what is.
Lest anyone think that this attitude only applies to small events, a few weeks ago a fitting (recently installed by a plumber) blew off of a waterline connection in a new home we had constructed. I arrived at the home three hours after the fitting blew off to find water running out from under the garage door. I rushed inside and discovered a thousand feet of hardwood flooring, oriental carpets, and furniture under water. Same same. Shut off the water, call people to help move furniture, clean up, and limit the damage, and then call the insurance company. Maybe insurance would cover the damage (which was obviously more than $10,000) and maybe not. Doesn't matter. This is reality. Gotta deal with it as it is. Some days are simply more surprising than others. Ha ha.
The same kind of attention and focus the caveman once brought to hunting wooly mammoths and sabre-tooth tigers is the same kind of attention and alert responsiveness that is brought to whatever is happening in the modern world.
Lest anyone think that this attitude only applies to small events, a few weeks ago a fitting (recently installed by a plumber) blew off of a waterline connection in a new home we had constructed. I arrived at the home three hours after the fitting blew off to find water running out from under the garage door. I rushed inside and discovered a thousand feet of hardwood flooring, oriental carpets, and furniture under water. Same same. Shut off the water, call people to help move furniture, clean up, and limit the damage, and then call the insurance company. Maybe insurance would cover the damage (which was obviously more than $10,000) and maybe not. Doesn't matter. This is reality. Gotta deal with it as it is. Some days are simply more surprising than others. Ha ha.
The same kind of attention and focus the caveman once brought to hunting wooly mammoths and sabre-tooth tigers is the same kind of attention and alert responsiveness that is brought to whatever is happening in the modern world.
