Let's Talk About...Lost and Found

Ok. We have all misplaced something at times. Well, some might say "lost" something. One term is just more hopeful than the other.

You can't find your keys. You can't find your wallet. You can't find your purse. But are they really "lost," or are they just not yet "found?"

Recently, I couldn't find my glasses. I knew I had them the night before. I looked in the car, both under the seats and between the seats. I emptied my purse three times. I looked in every room and retraced my steps. It was so frustrating, especially since I obviously couldn't see very well.

So again, for the fourth time, I removed my wallet, my keys, my pens, my wadded-up receipts, my gloves, and my tissues from my purse. I looked in every zippered pocket. They had to be there. But my glasses were nowhere to be found. I sighed and considered that maybe they were "lost."

So, I picked up everything to put back in my purse. My wallet, my keys, my pens, my tissues. And then I grabbed my gloves and felt something hard inside. OMG, there they were! And then it all came back to me. I had taken off my glasses the night before in the car. Not finding a glasses case in the dark, I put them in a nice soft glove for safekeeping. Smart, right? Too smart for me.

This is not the first time this has happened. I think I am so clever when I put something in a super clever place. So clever in fact that I never find it again.

For example, many years ago I was given a $100 bill by my boss to use for "client development." A nice crisp $100 bill. I knew I would immediately either lose it or spend it. So, I thought I should put it somewhere safe. Smart girl.

When the time came to use it, I couldn't remember where I put it. I looked everywhere. Drawers, books, shoes, between sofa cushions. I couldn't find it. I ended up having to use my own $100 for "client development" when I took a friend to dinner.

It drove me crazy. I knew I didn't spend it. Where was it? Was it lost?

Fast forward. A year later, I was going through my bathroom drawer and noticed a soft sleeve type of glasses case and for some reason, I looked inside. Sure enough, there at the bottom was a rumpled up $100 bill. Maybe I have an issue with glasses. I don't know.

It wasn't lost, after all. It just hadn't yet been found.

I also remember "losing" a bracelet. It was a bracelet my mother had given me, and I was devastated. It was years later that when cleaning out my heaps of empty purses, I felt something hard at the bottom of one. I looked inside. Nothing was there. Not even an old mint. But I could feel it. Sure enough, the lining had come loose and there was my bracelet between the purse and its lining. Finding that was pure luck. It was never lost at all. Just misplaced.

There are pieces of jewelry, photos and even a watch that at some point, were considered too precious to lose. So now they are permanently hidden in some extremely clever spot in the house. So clever that they won't be found until the house is torn down long after I am gone. Those "lost" items will one day be found. Like all the mates to those single earrings in my jewelry box.

Just remember, all is not lost when something is "lost." You just have to think, "Where would I have put this if I wanted to be sure no robbers will find it?" You just run the risk of not just outwitting all those imaginary robbers, but also yourself. But, rest assured, "the lost" will surface someday.

Like many things in life, when all seems lost, sometimes you just have to wait for the "found."