The other day I was walking out of Safeway, keys in my hand, keenly aware of their presence and determined to keep them there. I’ve had some trouble with keys and IDs lately and so I’ve been really focused on having my shit together, which is a great intention, but doesn’t always work. After getting the groceries in the back of my car,  I must have had brief moment of loss of focus, because after I sat down and shoved a protein bar down my throat, I could NOT FIND MY KEYS. Yes, you read that right. My keys were nowhere to be found. I looked in my purse, under my seat, in the ignition, my jacket pockets, the shopping cart, in the back of the car, on the ground. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I just had them in my hand and was so proud of myself for staying focused and responsibly not locking myself out of my car again. While trying so hard to not lose my keys, I somehow managed to lose my keys. I started freaking out. As I walked around my car, muttering to myself that this couldn’t really be happening, a Safeway employee who had come to round up shopping carts saw that I was in distress and decided to help. I was happy to have a second set of eyes, because sometimes another person can see what you cannot. This kind woman started yelling, “Keys! Keys! Where are youuuu?!” As she called out for my keys, which I first thought was kinda cute, she began going through my entire car. She looked everywhere. She even went through every grocery bag in the trunk. I continued grumbling to myself and then realized it was almost time to pick up the boys from school. Shit! We needed to find these keys and fast.

The sweet Safeway lady continued talking to my keys, which after 5 minutes was beginning to get on my damn nerves because those keys could not hear her. They were just darn keys that wanted me distraught and miserable. Just when I could feel the tears swelling up in hopelessness, I heard a sound from the Safeway lady. It sounded hopeful. I stood motionless behind my car, waiting to hear a possible jingle from my huge pile of keys. And then she said, “Keys! There you are!” I couldn’t believe it. Just in the nick of time, this woman managed to locate my keys. The keys that I somehow misplaced while sitting down to eat a protein bar. She found them under the passenger side front seat, which I guess I never checked. I ran over to her and gave her a big hug and told her she was an angel and that she saved my day.  As I looked down to see her name tag, I gasped. Her name was Angela! I was in awe of such a perfect moment after what was for 10 minutes one hell of a nightmare. We hugged again and I thanked her so much for helping me. Angela told me to call out for things when they are lost. “It works better,” she said. Then she was on her way, walking shopping carts back to the store. I had just enough time to get the ice cream into the freezer at home and pick up the boys. It all worked out.

I realized a few things after this experience:

1. I am extremely lucky.
2. Angels look just like regular people.
3. Life is annoying and tricky, but things work out.
4. Never lose faith.
5. Call out to things you’ve lost because it works better if they know you’re looking for them.
6. Always ask for help when you lose something. A second set of eyes will often see what you cannot.
7. No matter how hard we try, we will keep messing up because we are human.
8. I need to wear my keys around my neck forevermore.

Life is so full of craziness, but if we stop and think about our life experiences, there are always lessons to be learned. So. Many. Lessons. Earth School is super hard. Keep going. You are doing just fine. Better than you think.