Where are my keys.…?.....I know they’re around here somewhere…..

About 18 months ago, when the word ‘lockdown’ was more associated with American action movies than for a world pandemic, I was driving picking up a friend from his house to head out for a bite to eat.

As it was wintertime it was already pretty dark by the time I set off.

On approaching Wayne’s house, I noticed there was no lights on and no sign of Wayne, so despite the  torrential  rain, I decided to get out of the car and head up to the house.

I knocked on, a little unsure if anyone would answer, anyway there was an immediate response, “come in, I’m in the lounge”, Wayne shouted.

As I opened the front door and stepped in, it was pretty dark with not a light on anywhere; the only light was from the streetlamp directly opposite the house. I could kind of see, but only shadows and shapes.

On entering the lounge I could see a figure crawling around on the floor in random directions.

“What’s with the darkness?”, I asked in a slightly bemused manner.

“Must have been a power cut or a fuse blown and I’ve dropped my keys somewhere”, Wayne replied. 

So, I pretty much mirrored Wayne by starting to pat around on surfaces hoping to land my hand on the keys and we could get out of there; I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so was eager to get to the restaurant.

After about 10 minutes of blindly (well kind of) searching, Wayne  proceeded to walk, or I should say, lightly shuffle toward the front door. I continued to search the lounge area when I happened to notice that Wayne was now outside the house on the pavement under the streetlamp.

Slightly bemused and by  now a little irritated, I headed tentatively towards the door and joined Wayne on the pavement under streetlight.

By this time Wayne was now doubled over shuffling from side to side clearly looking for something on the floor. 

“Wayne, what the heck are you doing…?”, I asked in an irritated tone.

“I’m looking for my keys, like I said before” 

“But I thought you’d dropped them in the lounge, not out here?”

“Ye, I told you I dropped them in the lounge” 

“So what are you doing out here ?”

“I saw a light on out here, so I thought it would be easier to locate my keys here rather than trying to find them in the dark”.

If you hadn’t guessed it by now, I made up that story, but for a valid reason.

Sounds like a dumb thing to do doesn’t it? If you’re trying to find something in a place where it can’t  possibly be………but how often do you seek something ‘out there’ to try and ‘fix’ something within yourself? 

We all use external ‘things’ to support, enhance and stimulate parts of our lives which is perfectly natural and healthy, but sometimes we become too fixated or disillusioned by these and use them to compensate for and or ‘paper over’ more fundamental issues which can in fact only be resolved by focussing inwards.

Like most things it’s about balance………seeking ‘stuff’ out there can only add so much and without ensuring some of your fundamentals are in a good place you’ll never find your keys…….no matter how far you travel from your ‘house’.

Where are your keys right now…and where would you start looking if you’d misplaced them…?