.

The one thing that has been different in my life in the recent months is the fact that I have been highly distracted.  There have just been too many things going on the work front and I have been pretty lousy in trying to manage my time. And, as I assumed more responsibilities at work in trying to get things done while continuously trying to put out fires, I find myself being constantly glued to my mobile phone which I often use to multi-task the moment I am away from the kids.

Last month has been particularly rough on me as I feel that the entire juggling act of being a working mother and having to travel quite frequently for work has taken a toll on me. Often, I find my mind wandering back to work-related issues even though I am out of the office. My mind is running all the time and I find myself being constantly pre-occupied with things that needed my attention as I try to find solutions to problems which I need to solve; which inevitably led me to being extremely distracted.

So distracted I was that I somehow managed to forget that I had left a bunch of newly store-bought tupperwares somewhere when I was out on an errand one day. I couldn’t remember where I have left them and I only realised that I did not have my stuff with me until I got home an hour later.

So distracted I was again that I managed to lose, first, my wallet and then my passport on 2 separate occasions several weeks ago. And get this: losing things is not my norm; both are something which I have never done before.

While I may, at times appear to be quite disorganized, but when it comes to extremely personal belonging and important documentations, I know that I have always been anal about their safe keeping. That being said, I always exercise extreme caution with where I keep my personal belongings especially where wallet and passport are concerned. I always, always make the extra effort to always know where they are and when traveling, I would make it a habit to keep them ON me. And for those who know me, they know that’s how I operate and that’s just the way I am.

With me losing my wallet, the scary bit was that, not only did I not realise that I have lost it; I also could not recall when I had last used it. The only reason I realised it was gone was because, the following conversation took place on one morning:

Secretary: You lost your wallet right?

Me (a little astounded and wondering why the Secretary could even suggest such things!): Me? No. I didn’t.

Secretary: Yes you did.

Me: No, I didn’t

Secretary (this time, looking at me intently into my eyes): You lost your wallet. RIGHT? Where? Where is your wallet? (She asked me rather pointedly as she started to look around at my desk as if trying to prove a point)

True enough, I could not find it and the only reason she asked me about it was because someone from the building had told her about it and returned my wallet to the building management. I was lucky. An anonymous, kind soul had returned my wallet with everything intact. (or if there was something missing, I never noticed it). To this day,  I still don’t know who found my wallet.

Two weeks later, for the very first time in my life, I discovered I lost my passport.  Oh! The agony! And, I only realised that I did not have my passport with me 3 hours after I got back in Bangkok  – and THAT was after making my way to the office first with all my luggage right after I landed before heading back home.

I remember feeling the knots in my stomach as soon as I realised that not only did I not have my most important document with me, I cannot for the life of me remember where I last had it PLUS the inconvenient fact that I was due to travel again within the week!

I felt like I was losing my mind. I kept playing the moments right after I cleared immigration as I tried HARD to try to remember where I could have left my passport. I was bummed I couldn’t. The last thing I remembered after getting out of the area was that I had a streak of bad luck with the first cab that was assigned to me. The engine wouldn’t start and after trying for several minutes, the taxi driver escorted me out to the second cab. Unfortunately for me, the 2^nd cab decided to stall as well for a little while. I felt exasperated but after trying for a couple more minutes, he managed to get his engine into ignition.

It then became a blur from there as I got busy replying emails and made several phone calls. By then, I had completely forgotten about my passport.

So, when I realised that my precious passport was not with me when I got home, I was a wreck. I succumbed to being tired and stressed out that I broke down as I felt that it was too much for me to take. I made a police report, went home, did some work and pretty much continued to be a wreck the entire night.

At about 1.30 am, a sudden light bulb flashed in my head. I darted quickly out of bed, alarming Silver Bullet who, in a very calm manner suggested that I should first CALL Lost & Found instead of making my way there. To my credit, I did and was super surprised to know that indeed my passport had been found. I leapt a jump of joy. I changed faster than the speed of sound and made my way to the airport. Silver Bullet knew he wouldn’t be able to make me change my mind, and besides, it was not like I was able to sleep knowing that my passport was somewhere out there waiting to get picked up! There was no stopping me.

So at about half past one, I cabbed it out to the airport, asked the guy at the Lost & Found if he actually got my passport, identified myself,  signed a couple of forms, picked up my passport and made my way back home all within less than an hour!

I smiled so much on my way back that my jaw hurt. I couldn’t be happier, neither could I feel more relieved. I was, indeed, very grateful to whoever who had found it and had it returned to Lost and Found.

Such is the cost of my distracted life. I imagine that the outcome could have been worse and since then, I try harder to be less distracted when I am on the go.

At the same time, I also realised that I was really lucky.  Being able to find my lost properties was not something I had expected twice over. The first big loss being my wallet; and then followed with my precious passport. Perhaps, just perhaps, something was at play. And perhaps, just perhaps, that something has just been a little dose of good karma.

To the kind souls who found my precious belongings and had turned it over, please know that even though I don’t know who you are, I am eternally grateful. May your life be blessed with many good things to come and that karma comes back to you ten-folds. Bless your little hearts.

Khop Khun Kah.