UNITED STATES—It happens to the best of us, but when was the last time you forgot something that almost put you in a massive tizzy. Well, I’ll tell you my younger sister is the worse when it comes to forgetting things. This past weekend, she gave me the scare of my life thinking she had lost her purse. She has done this in the past, where she has actually dropped her purse in a department store and by sheer luck she recovered it with all items still in tact.

My sister has two kids, a newborn and a 6 year-old. I must say it is no easy task juggling kids and running errands. So I tagged along to help her out, but the stress she created running from the bathroom thinking she had lost her purse put me in panic mode. At first, I thought something was wrong with my newborn niece, but nope, it was her purse, she thought she dropped it and had no idea where it was. Myself and my older niece start backtracking our steps to ensure the purse wasn’t still on the floor.

We found nothing, we head back to the car, nothing. My sister exits the score with her heart racing and palpitating, thinking all of her major credit cards and cash are now lost. I take a moment to look in the car seat and stroller. Low and behold I find her purse underneath my niece’s car seat. I’m relieved, my sister is relieved and my niece is relieved. First thought that pops into my head: “You have to stop doing this. It’s time for you to get a bigger purse instead of the wristlet that seems to be lost all the time.”

So this entire incident got me thinking why do so many adults have forgetful minds? Something tells me we don’t take enough time to just pause and ensure we have the basics. Look I’m not a woman so I cannot tell you the madness or chaos that comes with holding a purse or the ton of items that might be inside that purse. However, that should be a sign to clean out the purse or perhaps utilize a purse where you know nothing will be easily lost. Perhaps a backpack is a better option. A purse that you can hold over your shoulder or wait for it, place the important items in your pocket. Keys, money, ID, credit card, wallet.

That is my MO, I always ensure my wallet and keys are in my pockets at all times, specifically my front pockets because I can feel it. Even better if I have zippers or buttons on my pockets so I can ensure nothing falls out. Losing things happens to us all the time, I recall losing $50 while in the mall and I’m certain 200 percent, the person who saw me drop it and picked it up without returning it to me will indeed face bad luck at some point in their life if they haven’t already.

I’d make the argument the mind begins to forget things when you fail to keep your mind sharp. Let me be clear this does not mean you have to study 24/7, but do something to keep your mind MOVING! Read a book, do a crossword puzzle, read the newspaper, and do something so your mind is not just sitting idle waiting for something to transpire. Life is too short, we are not promised tomorrow and if you have a history of forgetfulness that is a sign in itself people. Do something to change that repeated pattern that is occurring over and over and over again.

We all forget things; the key is you don’t want to keep running into a situation where you forget something so important that it costs you dearly in the long run.

Written By Kelsey Thomas