Reset

Arhhhhhhg.....is my first reaction to the words that stare boldly back at me from the screen! They glare at me as if they excite in the idea of what is to come, challenging me to get past their barricade that refuses to let me access my account. Why does this always happen at a time when I don't have any and I need access NOW! I try again... OMG... please, please, please, open! Nope, try again.. and I do, to no avail.

This one line on my computer screen sends me into an anxiety riddled frenzy? My mind is racing, my hands are shaking, my fingers flail about as my heart beat increases its pace and almost jumps out of my chest and the sweat that is now rolling down between my breasts threatens to show it's self through my cotton shirt!

I try again..."You have exceeded the password limit, reset your password here" at this point and it never fails, who ever is waiting on me now stands behind me peering over my shoulder as they indignantly inform me of how long it's taking and OMG how could you forget your password again? Their words almost get lost within the ringing of my ears. Almost...

As my stomach now turns and I feel like I need to head to the nearest toilet, my thoughts are "How could I? Well let me count the way's! Let's see, I have 100's of sites and files I access that need passwords and heaven forbid I use one too often, the PC Gods let me know that's not going to fly, so try again! And by the way, I now need to have at least one uppercase and one lower case character, my password must not be under X amount of characters and it can not be a password I have used before, blahdy, blahdy, blah!!"

Hoping to be rescued I click on the link to Googles "manage my passwords" and pray the sites on my list...please I silently beg, as I slowly face the list... Oh hell yes! It's there, yes, I got this, and with a new found confidence I return to the login and confidently enter my password. Click..."you have entered an old password please enter a current password". Noooooooooo!

I am going to have a panic attack, hell I am having a panic attack! I feel fractured, but Ok, I surrender, I resolve that the only way to get by this is to go through it! "What's taking you so long?" The words ring in my ears as I reluctantly give in and use one sticky clammy finger to click the password reset link. "A password reset has been sent to the email on file, please go to the email and follow the instructions to reset your password". So I go to that email and because I just happen to have cleared my cache last night I now need to log in. I enter my user name and password and click...to my horror I receive the message "password invalid please enter a valid password".

My anxiety has reached a level that I have no choice but to add to everyone's misery and excuse myself to the restroom! As I return back to my computer I inform all who are short on time that I will send the documents to them as an attachment. I find some relief in the fact that I am not at work with my whole team waiting on me and my boss tapping her fingers on my desk with that "you can be replaced" look on her face.

Hell with it! I think, I am not trying to endure the stress of entering passwords until I get the right one. so trying my best to be a problem solver, I close out my browser. I decide I should just start over and I return to the website, thinking I am so clever, I choose the option to access the site by logging in with facebook or google. I choose facebook, because I am sure I know the password. I take a deep breath in an effort to relieve some of my anxiety, enter the password and Viola! My password works, when...

Up pops a nice little box with the message "In an effort to protect your account you have chosen 2-step authentication. Please enter the 6-digit code sent to your phone number xxx-xxx-4869". I want to punch myself in the head! The code has been sent to my old phone number to which I have no access! Seriously I am so frustrated and exhausted by this whole process, I reach for my Rx of valium and wash one down with pepto. Now what? WTF am I going to do now?

My mind races to find a quick solution as time is ticking! As quick as my mind races a calmness begins to overtake me, I know just what to do and I log off, hit shutdown, close the laptop, and walk away...