I’m still waiting for my leisurely summer to begin.  Those hazy, lazy days of sleeping late, relaxing, reading a good book under a big tree with a large iced tea have yet to materialize.   So far, with camp and baseball championships and clients, summer looks a lot like the school year with a different dress code.   I know our lazy days will arrive soon, to replace the still crazy ones, with lots of travel plans and activities for July.  Let me share a “Lesson Learned” though, to help you and me both lighten up for summer.  Here is what my car keys taught me about life. 

Car keys?  Yep, car keys.  You see, my purpose in life is to “Serve Others:  God, Family and Community, in that order”.  We all need a mission statement, that’s mine.  And that evidences itself in the very heavy key ring I, until last week, carried at all times.  Last Thursday, I had on my key ring keys to: 6 houses, including my own; my garage; my bike lock; my PO Box; and 2 cars; plus a signal whistle, a flash light, a wrist coil and a clip.  Those last items were for safety reasons, but let’s face it, if I fell in a lake, those items would probably sink me for sure instead of saving me.  I bought a bigger ring last week, to fit the latest addition.

After finishng a client appointment, I hopped in my trusty van and it would not start.  For a few sickening, dreadful moments.  A half hour from home, my hubby was at work.  “Oh, Man, this is going to be a pain”.  Turns out, after some wiggling and jiggling (the keys, not me) and praying, my key turned.  The weight of the key ring had caused it to not line up properly in the ingition. 

So, the weight of the responsibilities I carry on my key ring, metaphorically, could have really messed up my day!  I don’t consider my responsibilities a burden, but I let them weigh me down some times.  So, learn about life from my car keys:

 1.  “I do not have to carry all the keys (responsibilities) at once.”  Most days I need 2 keys.  House and Car.  Period.  So, the other keys are nearby, should I need to help out a loved one, but I don’t need them on my person at all times.

2.  I don’t need to carry the key until someone asks me to.  This translates to “People can solve their own problems sometimes, too”.   The people whose keys I carry are very responsible and wonderful people, and I trust them to take care of things and ask me for help if they need it. 

3 .  That leads me to “Other people hold the same keys, and they can open doors for your loved ones, too”.

4.  Pack light.  “Sometimes it is easer to travel if you lighten up a little.”  What do you really need?  Turns out I can do almost everything with just my car key in my pocket, knowing my other keys are locked in the car.  That has really lightened up my cargo shorts!

5.  Pack light, but also “Pack Right”.  I was just reading a P.O. Work Place Safety email, and it mentioned how we need to be aware and stay safe as we go into people’s homes and businesses every day.  The email suggested I always keep my car key in my pocket, so if I need to leave an appointment for any reason, I can do so quickly and safely.  I can come back for my gear later, but safety is critical.   So, I can pack light so long as I have the right stuff when I really need it.

6.  “There’s often more than one way to solve a problem”.  I had frequent-shopping tags to two stores on my key ring.  Turns out I can get the specials if I just give them my phone number or email, too.  So the tags went away!

Bet you never knew how much you could learn from your car keys!   Have a great week, thanks for reading.