The PANANOLE News: FSU-Panama Student E-Zine

     Whether we like it or not, things sometimes disappear in a mysterious way from our hands, and most of the time it doesn’t mean somebody had stolen them from us. Sometimes we left them in places we can’t remember, and sometimes other people move them from one place to another without telling us. Anyway, it is not a happy situation. We like things to be where we can find them, so it is completely normal to get mad or desperate when we cannot find them where we expected them to be. Sometimes we look for those things for hours, maybe days, and sometimes for months, and they never seem to appear. Here are some rules I use to find most of my lost stuff.

     Rule #1: Stay calm! If you’re worried about finding what you’re looking for, you will never concentrate as well as you will in normal circumstances. For example, if you lose an expensive necklace, you will be nervous thinking about where did you see it for the last time, or where did you leave it, or thinking that somebody has stolen it from you. In this situation you’ll be desperate because it is your money that you’re losing. But if you wait some time to calm down, without thinking about it, you will be able to remember more clearly where it could be, or maybe you can find it at the moment or place you less expected, just because of luck.

     Rule # 2: Don’t look for the missing item all the time. Do other things that can distract your attention from what you’ve lost. Work, play, clean your room, organize your files and papers, read a good book, do anything you feel like and entertain your mind. Wear another necklace today; it won’t be your best one, but nobody will notice it. Go and walk with your neighbor to get some fresh air. You’ll see that maybe you will find it when you come back. Don’t worry if you don’t, you can always walk another mile.

     Rule #3: Look in unexpected places. Maybe your necklace has fallen into the dirty clothes-basket the last time you used it; it could be stocked in a sweater, or maybe it’s inside the washing machine, or the dryer.

     Rule # 4: Be prepared to give up! Resign yourself. Forget about it. Think that you will never find it, but do not buy it again! This is what occurs in most of the cases when you spent a lot of valuable time looking for your treasured possession, and you’re sick of looking for it. In many cases when you’ve resigned yourself, one day, not so far away, you will find your treasure right in front of you. Maybe your necklace will be inside your makeup case, or in your closet next to your black dress shoes. Or maybe it won’t be so close to you. Maybe the girl in the laundry found it in one of your pants’ pocket and she is keeping it for you until you return to pick up your dress or to drop off something else.

     In the situation of losing there is no logical process or explanation. Sometimes we end up thinking that the less we look up for things, the faster we’ll find them, and somehow this is true. This belief is not something you can prove using the scientific method, (if it’s a matter of probability, then it is something likely) it is just a matter of probability. The fact is that most times following these simple rules helps. I can’t guarantee that you will find things fast, I’m only telling you that if you’re really guilty one of losing something, chances are that you will find it.

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