I got up early this morning with the intent to exercise.
I was just about to get on the treadmill when I realized no one took out the trash last night for today’s garbage pick-up, so I headed out to run the trash can up to the street. I then came back, grabbed the recycling bins and headed out the front door which is rarely used.
Having just woken, my brain was not functioning fully. After I had set the bins out, I walked back to the house.
I couldn’t get in!
I was faced with the reality that I had just locked myself out.
The knob to the front door turns from the inside while locked and I failed to make sure it was unlocked before I closed it behind me.
I was locked out of my own home at 5:45 a.m. without a cell phone to call for help. It was a cool winter morning (luckily the temperature was not at freezing levels), dark, and more than 30 minutes before the alarm clocks were to go off to wake the children for school, and they often sleep through the alarms.
What was I going to do???
I thought of all the windows around the house and wondered which one would be the easiest to break into. “No”, I told myself, “that isn’t an option.”
I did not want to break any windows that could be costly to repair, and I didn’t want to cause any damage that would make it easy for a burglar to break in.
“Do I bang on my 16 year-old son’s window? He will sleep through most anything – what are the chances he would wake up?”
“Do I even have the heart to wake up my tired children so soon before they need to be up?”
“Do I want to bang on a window and frighten them into thinking someone was breaking in? How long would it take them to recover from the fright?”
I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I was disappointed that I was missing my workout, UNTIL…
I realized I didn’t have to miss my workout – I could run outside.
(Duh – right?)
Well, the problem with that was that running around in an unfamiliar neighborhood in the dark during the wee hours of the morning was not a comforting thought, SO…
I ran up and down and up and down my driveway several times, breathing in the refreshing, brisk, morning air.
I did some push-ups against the rear bumper of my van.
Then ran up and down and up and down my driveway several more times.
Finally…
I saw the kitchen door open as the cat ran outside.
My oldest son was up! Hallelujah!
I ran to the door, thanking him!
There are many times in life when things don’t work out the way we want them to or something unexpected happens.