Lost and Found

I have this amazing friend who knits super cool things.

She made me an awesome pair of fingerless gloves a couple years back.

I love them so much!

Last winter, I wore them a lot, keeping them in the pockets of my favorite coat.

Until one day, when I reached in the pockets and realized I only had one of them.

I had lost the other.

I looked everywhere for it.

It made me so sad to think that it was gone forever.

This summer, when cleaning out my car, my boyfriend found my lost glove. It was tucked deep under the car seat, beneath a few other random things.

I swear I had looked there!

The feeling of relief was intense, like seeing an old friend who you thought you might never see again.

It made me think about all of the things I've lost in my lifetime.

Some that have turned up in odd places after the fact, giving me that sense of relief.

And others that have been lost for good, leaving me with only fond memories.

Losing things in life can do one of two things.

Make us sad.

Or make us grateful.

I try to choose to be grateful, even when the sadness wants to take over.

I know that's hard. But I also know that giving that sadness power over our mood and our days doesn't change the fact that the thing we loved has been lost.

Being grateful helps me focus on the good experiences I had and how much they added to my life.

Not so much in the case of a lost glove, even though this one has huge sentimental value for me.

But it helps more in the times when the things I've lost were big and meaningful.

Like people, or pets or an entire chapter of my life that is over.

It's an interesting mix of feelings to be grateful and sad at the same time, isn't it?

So, I guess my lesson today is this:

When you lose things in life, be grateful for the time you had with them instead of lingering in the disappointment and sadness.

Let yourself remember the happy moments, how those things made you feel, and what you learned from them.

And as for the small stuff you lose?

Maybe, just maybe... it will turn up under the seat of your car!

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