Organized Chaos

My computer is set up by a file cabinet. It's only two file levels high, so it makes a very nice side table. Inside, on both levels, are beautifully marked out and organized hanging files for all the sorting of paperwork and information we might need. Last month when I needed something for the car, it was right there.

Of course, tonight, when I needed to find the receipt for something, it was no where near the cabinet.

My roommate walked to our office area and began to search for the two Walmart bags that hold our more current and vital paperwork. For a while, the letters and receipts and documents were allowed to pile up around us, creating higher and more precarious stacks. We knew it was getting out of hand so we did the smart thing and filed it all away. . .  oh, wait, no . . . tossed it all into Walmart bags to be sorted at a later date.

Of course, he couldn't find the bags.  

To be fair, it's been several months since we thought about them. Things get moved around here and there and quite honestly, we've had other priorities. But not finding them opened up the slight trickle of panic in both of us.  Just the first step towards what could spiral into full scale "need to go to nut house" level panic.

I walked over to see if I could help and noted, that the office area was less disorganized that I thought it was, thought it could use a serious level of help in that department.  My roommate found some random bag of loose change. Neither of us remember where it came from. My guess is the car.  I didn't ask him if any of the money was a bit rusted.  If it was, that's a sure sign it was taken out of my car.

Oh, and I did eventually find the bags o'important paperwork.  They were in a pull out drawer made of molded while plastic and poverty. I'm guessing we put them in the drawer so we could quite easily remember where we put them.

We divided up the bags and began to search them. Nothing.  We search again. Nothing. WE SEARCH AGAIN. Nothing.  And by now, the panic is really starting to grow.

Because, this receipt was for something that cost us a lot of money and time and sanity.  It deals with a time that was hard on us, not just emotionally and financially, but physically because we had to do a lot of stuff on our own just to keep costs down. I don't think either of us feel like going through this again.

At this point, as we continue to find nothing, I'm thinking two things. The first is that I really should organize my paperwork into the happy little hang files I made for it. Secondly, I probably have the emotional stability suited for someone who lives in an apartment. I need the security of knowing maintenance will show up and fix the problems, that I have no responsibility beyond just calling them and waiting.  Beyond that, my brain starts to turn sideways.

Or maybe not . . . .

Because at the last minute, as we were both scrambling through the paperwork AGAIN, I remembered that we'd set all truly vital and important receipts in a vase on the mantle. And would you believe it? The document we needed was exactly in that vase.

Is there a moral to the story? Why yes, yes there is.

You can't control when things break. You can't control when things are going to fall apart.  You could try, but it would drive you bonkers.

But what you can control is how you are able to respond to the crisis. The absolute worst thing you can do is hit panic.  Once you've hit panic or anger, you won't make good decisions. In some cases, you won't make any decisions.

Any aspect of a situation that you have some measure of power over, use.  See that things are organized and stored in places that are easy to sort through and find. See that you have a good record of when things happen, as a way of predicting when they may happen again.  Finally, if you find yourself starting to panic, stop talking, stop thinking. Just take a moment, count to ten, do some deep breathing. Sit down. Find ways to calm yourself so you can handle the situation in  a rational manner.

If I'd not started panicking already, I probably would have remembered where we kept the important docs. I could have saved myself a lot of tense moments.  Hopefully next time, I'll have things more secure.