Take It Light

So, in an unfortunate turn  of events I lost my wallet while I was out the other night. I lost everything. My drivers license, my credit card, my debit card, my insurance card, a handful of gift cards and some cash. I also lost my house key and my student ID that I use daily.

You may say “Maia, how on earth could you lose all that at the same time?” To which I answer, I have no idea.

I was having a really great night. I was out with my friends, not a care in the world, and we were having a wonderful time. Then one after another, little problems and tiffs started to arise. In my haste to leave the bar (I am 21, do not fret) I didn’t double check all of my belongings on the way out. I was sure I had my wallet and cell phone when I got in the car, and could’ve sworn I put them on the seat between me and my friend. But when yet another disaster occurred, double checking my belongings was pushed to the back of my mind. When things finally settled down, I dug around the crowded back seat and fished out my phone, only to find that my wallet was nowhere to be found.

The next day I searched every place I could think of. I called the bar I visited, I retraced my steps, I searched the car (3-5 times), and even called the police station. I enlisted help from my friends and even posted on campus wide pages. Unfortunately, as time wore on it became more and more evident that my wallet was not to be found. So I began the journey of canceling and reordering what needed to be replaced.

To be completely honest, when I first realized my wallet was M.I.A., I kind of had a meltdown, border line tantrum. Thankfully, the only person to witness my tears was my ever patient boyfriend. After he talked some sense into me I went to bed, still full of worry, and managed maybe 3 hours of sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that were missing and the potential cost of replacing things (it wasn’t low).

Unfortunately, there is little hope that I will find my wallet. However, everything is not all gray skies.  I did realize some positive things from this little fiasco. First off, I have some pretty great friends. It’s easy to forget in the whirlwind and stressful environment that is college. But the friends I did ask for help were very sympathetic and willing to look with me. Second, I have the most amazing mother in the world. She spent close to 45 minutes on the phone with me walking me through what I needed to do to keep my accounts safe. She let me vent my stress about the situation. And she went to the store and the post office the same day to send me things I needed from home to start rebuilding the lost contents of my wallet. I also learned the hard way that you should not bring your entire wallet out with you. And you should probably carry something more substantial than a wristlet (take note girls!).

Throughout the whole process of searching, canceling, etc., a mantra my parents like to use kept crossing my mind. It goes:

“Take it light, but take it.”

Throughout this terribly inconvenient lesson, I actively tried to remind myself that yes, this sucks, but it could be worse. And this is just a small setback that I need to deal with. I lost some stuff that I would have preferred not to lose. But the important things can be replaced, and it’s not the end of the world.