The other morning I was rushing to leave the house for an appointment. When I was finally ready, I reached into my purse to grab my keys. I rummaged around and couldn’t find them. In my rush, I went to the jacket I was wearing the night before and searched the pockets. No keys. I went back to my purse, sure I had put them in there—as I always do. I took everything out of my purse, one by one, but couldn’t find my keys. I scurried to my bedroom and fumbled through the pockets of the pants I wore the night before. No keys. I texted my husband and son and asked them if they had inadvertently taken my keys that morning. I went back to my purse and took everything out again. I shook my purse but heard nothing. No keys. I threw the cushions off the couch and the chair where I had sat the night before. No keys. I rushed out to my car and felt the ignition area. No keys. I checked my phone to see if I had received a text. No text and NO KEYS! I was panicked, worried about where they could be and that I would have to cancel my appointment. I went back to my purse and took a deep breath. I took out my wallet, my reading glasses, my checkbook, my sunglasses, my journal, my pen, my lip gloss and gum. I still couldn’t find my keys. I picked up my purse, looked inside and, there, THERE were my keys. Lying there quietly, demurely, inconspicuously. I threw everything back into my purse and rushed out the door. But don’t think for one second that what had just happened escaped me. Don’t think that I didn’t feel like Dorothy Gale from Kansas in that moment. “If I can’t find my heart’s desire in my own backyard, then maybe I’ve never lost it to begin with.”
Sometimes the very thing we are looking for, the key to everything, is right where it needs to be. Sure, sometimes we can't see it, feel it or hear it, but it's there. Never doubt that it's there.
We haven’t lost the key, we just need to take a deep breath and be open to finding it.
An Invitation
Do you have a missing key? Where have you looked? What would happen if you took a deep breath and looked inside?