Earlier in March this year, I happened to notice a message request on Facebook.
I found it had two pictures of my wallet, cash, credit/debit cards, and ID cards.
I was shocked!
Below the pictures was a message that read “Hello, please contact me.”
Instantly, I checked my cupboard.
Indeed, I didn’t have my wallet.
The message had come 2 days ago, and I never realised losing the wallet.
I began wondering:
– How could I be so reckless? (I never lose my things)
– Where did I lose it?
– When? How?
– What is the guy going to demand in exchange?
etc…
This went on for a few seconds until I told myself to accept the situation as it is, and deal with it.
I stopped overthinking it.
I also noticed my credit card had several unrecognised transactions that day.
I was about to discount them as ‘card verification’ deductions, for they were all for Re. 1 only…until I saw where it was from.
It was a departmental store I visited a week ago.
It clicked!
This guy was trying to get my attention.
I headed to that store and checked for the person.
This guy (far right in the pic) looked at me and shouted – “Sir, we have been trying to reach you for a few days.
But you never came. We tried to search for your profile on Facebook, but we couldn’t identify your profile. You look so bulky against the ID card photo. We took a chance and texted.”
I folded my hands and said, “Thank you so much. Not only because you returned it, but for all the efforts you took. You could have simply kept it in the lost items box. Instead, you took the extra effort to look for me up on Facebook, message me a few times, and when nothing worked, you implemented the idea to make deductions from my card to get my attention. This is beyond help. Thanks to all the three of you involved”.
I gifted them chocolates, but they were hesitant.
I said, “I know you didn’t ask for it. It is a token of thanks from me. That’s about it. It is just a way to thank you guys. Please accept this.”
Thankfully, they accepted.
I asked them for a picture together.
They smiled and asked, “Ok, but why?”
I said, “Most of what we hear or talk about every day is the bad things in life. When we meet good people like you all, it is worth recognizing. Isn’t it? That good people like you also exist.”
–
This incident filled me with a deep sense of gratitude.
I realise how skewed our perception can get if we put undue focus on the bad things and ignore the good things happening to us.
Life is painful sometimes, but we turn it into prolonged suffering by ignoring the good parts, and obsessively focusing on the bad ones.
It made me understand how ‘gratitude’ works.
It makes us notice the good things…now!
It makes us stay where we are…in the present.
It makes us ‘live’.
P.S. – Good people exist!
Neither they wear capes. nor are they few in numbers.
They have a face.
They just don’t get highlighted as much as they deserve.
Here, you’re seeing three of them.