There were errands to run, letters to mail, a few phone calls to make, and the usual collection of little tasks that somehow take up an entire day.
I was driving with my daughter when my phone rang.
It was my CPA.
I was in the middle of a conversation, so I let it go to voicemail.
That should have been enough.
But no.
The moment I saw his name on my phone, everything on my to-do list quietly slid down a notch.
Without even listening to the message, my imagination took over, and one scenario after another started clocking in.
By the time I returned his call, I’d already had the conversation several times in my head.
None of my versions turned out to be entirely true.
His questions were simple enough.
He was kind.
He listened.
We talked for a bit, and before we hung up, he simply said, “don’t worry, I’ll figure this out.”
That was it.
The actual phone call was brief and very respectful.
The one in my mind had been a calisthenic workout.
Somewhere along the way, I’d quietly turned my CPA into the judge of how well I was managing my life.
He never asked for that job.
I gave it to him.
When I hung up, I could breathe again, and I felt lighter.
I felt lighter because reality had finally caught up with the stories I’d been telling myself.
It made me wonder how often we do that.
An unopened email.
A doctor’s appointment.
A difficult conversation.
A phone call we’ve been putting off.
How many times do we spend more energy carrying something than it actually takes to do it?
Sometimes I think the heaviest part of a task isn’t the task itself.
It’s everything we imagine it to be before we begin.
Maybe that’s what I was really carrying.
Not a phone call.
Just the weight of stories that hadn’t happened.
Perhaps we all do it from time to time.
Our imagination outruns reality…and we end up exhausted trying to keep pace.
Maybe the next time my mind starts writing tomorrow’s story before today has even unfolded, I’ll remember this phone call.
And maybe I’ll let reality have the first word.