"Must do" on auto pilot

This morning I was getting ready to go to a seminar. I woke up early and had plenty of time to get ready. When I was meaning to head out the door to get to the seminar on time, I couldn't find my cell phone. I knew it was in my house since I had used it the same morning. So I searched and searched until I finally found it. Even though I ran to the bus stop I missed the bus with a few seconds. I really hate not respecting other peoples time by being late so I felt really frustrated. When I was standing at the bus stop, out of breath and stressed out, I realized that I didn't actually need to have the phone with me. We had to turn the phones off during the seminar anyway. And if I really would need one I could probably have gone home on the lunch break to get it or maybe used someone else’s. I'm not a doctor on call in case there are lives to save. I can go a day without a cell phone in my pocket without endangering myself or anyone else.  The thought of going out without one gives me a feeling of being free and a little mischievous. No, I'm not reachable 24/7… I'm on my own time for a while…

How many things do we get stressed up about and feel that we have to do that isn't really that important? When we feel stress or pressure by a "must do", maybe the "must" is in our mind and not really necessary... If I had paused and taken a deep breath... perhaps I would have realized that the cell phone was better left were it was before it hit me while seeing the rear of the bus disappearing in front of me.