Humbled by the gift from my business professors all of whom I hold in high regard, I treasured my Cross pen with a mixture of concern and symbolism. The concern being that I rarely am able to keep up with any writing utensil more than one day. The symbolism being that the beautiful gold lined pen seemed to symbolize the hard work to complete my MBA as well as the inspiration to continue in my knowledge and development in business. For two weeks I kept my pen close at hand, using it frequently to sign forms, make lists, pay credit card bills, and write down ideas. One waitress commented to me, "That sure is a fancy pen!" With pride, I told her thank you that I really preferred it over any other pen.
But it disappeared one day. Gone. I retraced my steps, called around, looked in drawers, under chairs, throughout my truck, in every shirt and pants pocket, but all to no avail. My symbol of hard work and inspiration was no more and I dreaded the moment when I saw one of the business professors and could not present the pen. Thinking through the dilemma, I decided to purchase a new one, only to discover it was out of my current budget. After anguishing through the problem, I landed on a cheaper but similar Cross pen in the hopes it would look quite similar from a distance. Not entirely satisfied with the replacement, I continued to mourn the loss of the original pen while using the new one. A sad situation at best.
One week later wanting to read a book and take a nap, I laid down on the sofa in the living room. I read through several pages of the novel and calmly closed my eyes for a nap. Five minutes later my mobile phone buzzed. Forcing myself awake to look at the caller id, I decided to answer it in spite of my grogginess. The call mentioned we would be having a guest in the next few minutes which led me to clean up the kitchen in short order. As I cleaned, I gave thought to any more forms I needed to sign. Almost haphazardly reaching into my pocket, in dismay I realized my new Cross pen was gone. I had lost yet another new pen. Rather than surrendering to the emotion of loss, I quickly gave logical thought to where I had lost it and returned to the sofa.
Looking carefully between the cushions, I saw the pen and with a smile returned it to my pocket. Walking back to the kitchen to finish the job, I began to wonder about the sofa and the remote possibility of other lost items between the cushions. I walked back to the sofa and after finding $1.85 in change, I felt it...the original Cross pen! Great joy and excitement entered my being and now with two Cross pens (one better than the other), I am a happy person.
But my happiness was short-lived as I realized my own recent weight gain. Too cold to run in the mornings added to an excessive amount of sweets, and I am now heavier than I should be. Entering into a low-carb diet, I will attempt to lose 20 pounds over the next several weeks. It will not be fun and I certainly will miss the bread and the sweets, but the diet is necessary. With a new lease on life including an MBA, two Cross pens, and a diet, I start work on Monday ready to make a difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment