When I am tired, I can be very forgetful.  Yesterday, after attending a very inspiring conference on a subject dear to my heart, I left all the handouts somewhere.  Typically we can do the following things when we lose stuff-

1. Berate ourselves

2. Forget and let go

3. Try to find them again

Well, the first option is never a good idea- only of course, we must never be so tired that we don’t know what we are doing.  The other two options are interesting.  With my lost papers, I could have just let them go- after all, yesterday I had written about acceptance.  I did remember the most important points from the papers that were memorable to me, so it was fine.   I think, sometimes instead of things, we have to lose people too- people who have become toxic to us.  It is not a loss- it is a gain then.

In this case, I decided to see if I could either find the papers or get duplicates.  The process was most interesting.  I emailed some people who I otherwise would not have and and received nice messages from them. I learnt about the valuable work these people were doing.  I realised that I had connected to some nice people only because I lost some papers.  I learnt what I valued about the conference and remembered what I had to without any paper reference.  Great stuff- I think.  We all have heard those stories when people deliberately leave something in someone’s house when they really want to get in touch with them on the pretext of finding their lost things.  Now I see lost things in a different way- a positive thing, a way of making connections and finding out about myself.

So next time you lose something, do think about doing the last two options- that is creativity!