I was the President and CEO of an investment company and had called an emergency board of directors meeting that I earnestly needed to attend because the fate of the company, all too precariously, lay-at-odds.

Not only was my attendance at this meeting critical but, the timing was also extremely problematic for two-thirds of the board of directors. Not only were they from out-of-state but, they were forced to hastily clear their schedules, book their last-minute airline flights, and had endured an overly-crowded flight into the city for the one-and-only express purpose of attending the emergency meeting.

Not that I was keeping score, but my day had also started off disastrously. For reasons, I have yet to understand, somehow, and for the first time in over fifteen years, I slept through my initial and back-up alarms. At this point, I was incredibly late but, hoping against-all-odds, that if I cut corners and scrambled getting ready I could somehow salvage the day.

To my amazement, it worked and I was now back-on-track and feeling optimistic. I proceeded to pick up my briefcase and headed for the front door. However, it suddenly occurred to me that I had left my cell phone on the kitchen table. I quickly ran back and picked up my phone, and headed back to the front door.

Being an undeniable creature-of-habit, the last thing I did prior to leaving the apartment was to grab my keys. So I reached down to pick up my car keys where I always, and without fail, kept them in a wooden bowl that sat on the foyer table by the front door. Doing this had ensured me that I would never be forced to frantically search for them. However, to my utter dismay,...