Wednesday, November 09, 2005

LoSinG My RAy-BAn

Maybe it's because I started my day late. Maybe it's because I tried to deviate from my old routine and requested the taxi to pick me up by 8 AM. Maybe it's because I started the day unenthusiastic.
Unlike my normal days where I go to PG6 (my building in Malaysia), I went to PG4 instead for a white paper presentation. It should start by 8:30 AM so while waiting for the meeting, I decided to drop by the cafeteria to get something to eat for breakfast. As expected, I saw my engineering counterpart at the cafeteria as well.
Well, the story did not start there. It started 2 hours after that when I came back to PG6 and discovered that the left pocket of my backpack is open. It is not ordinary for me to see my bag pocket open, as I normally check them whenever I bring my bag. The first thing I noticed upon seeing the open pocket is that it's empty. Oh no. My ray-ban sunglasses!!!!!!!!!!!
Yup, that is where I usually put my shades for easy accessibility. And yes, the glasses I am referring to are the ones you've seen in the photo below. It's not even 3 months old and it's gone!!!
The first thing that came to my mind : "shit".
I looked around and traced my path from the shuttle pick up station up to the office. No traces of the black ray-ban case. I told my officemate about it and he joked "Les, para ka na ring natalo sa casino ng 300 Ringgit nun"...
Apparently, this officemate of mine felt bad upon losing 100RM during our vacation at the Genting Casino. Mind you, I won 50RM :) It's just a matter of getting contented with what you have, you know :)
Well, honestly I was kinda irritated with the joke because I know it's true. My 300RM was gone so fast. If I only knew it was going to happen, I could have worn it even when I sleep.
My officemate suggested that I contact Security Office to report my lost glasses. But being the pessimistic person that I am, I just replied "Wag na, impossible naman may magbalik nun. Saka what if ninakaw yun?"
That moment, I accepted that fact that I lost my ray-ban. It's the typical me. I did not give it a fight. But after a lot of thinking (which is about 3 minutes), I decided to go back to PG4 and look for my lost sunglasses. On the way to PG4, I was thinking what wrong have I done. I always take care of my sunglasses. In fact, I always check it and make sure that it wont get damaged not lost. Why did this happen? It even came to a point where I asked God " Lord, why is it that the ones that I hold valuable, you take away from me?" Why not take away something else?
Bakit kung ano pa yung importante at mahalaga, yun pa talaga ang nawawala? Is this Karma?
Because I think I have never neglected my sunglasses. Sometimes it's really disappointing to find out that even after all that you did, you still lose. Big time.
I went to PG4 and to the conference room. But no traces of my sunglasses. 10% hope left. I was about to go back to PG6 when I thought about going to the cafeteria. Nah...it couldn't be there. Besides, it's full of people. If ever I left it there, somebody else would probably take it.
I saw someone I know in the cafeteria and asked him where is the security office. He asked me why I am going there and I said that I lost my sunglasses.
"Is it in a black pouch?", he said.
"Oh yes yes yes!!!!", out of excitement, I said.
He pointed to the direction of the guy who happens to be sitting in the same place I sat during breakfast. My hope rose from 10% to 99% (come on, you can never be so sure...).
I immediately went to the place and saw my sunglasses. The guy holding it said "you owe me for this. How could you even care to let go of such a beautiful pair of glasses?"
I said, "well, you don't know I am almost crying on my way here"
Just a simple ray-ban taught me so many lessons today:
1. Never say never without even trying. I was almost to give up upon knowing that the possibility that I can find my glasses is low. But still, I tried. I am glad I tried.
2. I no longer believe in what most people say that "kung sayo, sa yo talaga. you don't have to look for it. it will come to you." If I believed in that, would I be able to get my glasses back? No. Di naman lumalakad ang glasses. And if ever someone finds it and would like to return it, it doesn't have my name so di rin nya maisosoli. The only way is for me to look for it.
3. Appreciate it while it's there. What if I never find my sunglasses? Sayang di ba? Iisipin ko, sana ginamit ko na lang sya. The same thing with life. Never expect things will always be there. As a friend would say, nothing lasts forever. Kaya ako starting now, I will try to appreciate all that is important to me. For i never know when I will lose them.
4. I realized that this experience could also give me a hint that I am getting lost. With God. For the past months (many months), I have lost touch with him. And this morning, I even blamed him for losing all that I hold valuable. Tama ba yun? Hindi.
5. And lastly, when it is important to you, fight to have it. Don't just let it slip away and accept the fact you lost it. Dahil kung ginawa ko yun kanina, malamang di ko na nakita yung shades ko.
Make it happen. Do it.