via Daily Prompt: Fragile Schedules – What happens when your calendar is gone?

My cell phone has been doing some funky stuff lately. It keeps beeping when I get an email (even though I have turned off the notifications twice.) I am not receiving texts messages until two days after they were sent. Others are not receiving my texts until much later or not at all.

BUT The worst possible thing happened last Saturday to my phone…

my calendar was gone!!?!?!?!?!

The last two years of dates and appointments…gone. My appointments for this year…gone. Everything I had already scheduled for 2017…GONE.

I never realized how heavily I relied on my little digital calendar.

Losing that computerized calendar shattered my fragile sense of control.

My mental and physical planning are centered around the memos and reminders saved in that stupid calendar and now I wasn’t sure how I was going to be an effective planner.

I am a planner. I need to plan things. I love to plan. How was I going to plan without my calendar????

I took a deep breath and remembered, not only am I a planner, I am also a pack rat.

I was able to get a number of my dates back from emails and paper invitations that I had saved – “Just in Case”. The school calendars, I dutifully print each August, assisted in providing more reminders. Of course my hard copy calendar, in our home office, filled in even more fun events. I thought I had it all re-entered, until my son missed basketball practice Wednesday.

How could we miss a practice???

There I was again facing the fragility of my digital dependence.

I needed to get tougher.

I have forgiven myself for allowing my phone to rule my sanity. I have forgiven myself for missing a 5 year-old’s basketball practice. I have even told myself that I am not going to use the calendar as much. My hard copy calendar is always in the office, if I need my planning fix.

Here is my challenge for you. Break some of your digital dependence. Face the fragility caused by our need to be connected to everyone at all times. Put energy into trusting yourself and embracing the quiet and calm of knowing it’s going to be ok if we don’t get every text or make it to every social event. It’s going to be ok.

Be strong. Put the calendar down. It’s going to be ok.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. I am not telling you to delete your calendar. That is a very stressful thing to do.

P.S.S. You should schedule time for those you love. Time is a very fragile thing.