I believe the Universe has a message for me. Thing is, I haven’t quite figured out yet what that message might be. While I had a blast running around Chicago this weekend meeting new friends, I also seemed to have had a pattern of misplacing things. I’d call them lost, but really, as I’ve learned, what is lost, can be found. Just ask, believe and ye shall receive.

So basically, it all started before I even really left LA. I found out on the shuttle to the airport that I’d left my cell phone in my car. Of course, there was no way I was able to go back and get it. The challenge here is that I don’t know my husband’s cell phone number and I didn’t have his business card with his cell number on me. So I called my girlfriend in NM (a number that I did have memorized) and asked if she had it. So I was able to call from the airport and leave him a message that I didn’t have my phone. Luckily, I’ll basically talk to anyone, so on the train from the airport into the hotel, I borrowed a gal’s phone to let him know that I was on my way. No harm, no foul.

Of course, my entire weekend I was going to be running around Chicago and riding the train for an hour into the ‘burbs to meet with virtual strangers (folks I’ve chatted with online, but have never met in person) and everyone had my cell number as a contact point. And my husband was going to be spending his entire weekend away from me shooting an outdoor music festival on the other side of town. So, we decided to get a temporary, pay as you go phone just for the weekend so we’d be able to remain in contact (inexpensive, and basically a business necessity since the gals I was meeting with were all biz meetings). Easy peasy. Done.

So there I am, sitting on the train getting ready to ride an hour into the ‘burbs to meet a friend, hoping and praying that I’m on the correct train. I promised the hubby that I’d call on the train out of the city. So I start to dig through my purse only to realize that my temporary phone, the very phone that was purchased almost exclusively for this very excursion, was missing. Turns out I left it (and my money) back in the room. Universal message, take two. I had a blast with my friends, and everything was fine (as expected). My friend called my hubby as my train was leaving so he knew when to expect me. Again, no harm, no foul.

Now it’s Monday and we’re checking out of the hotel, but we still have four or so hours to kill in the city before we have to leave for the airport. During most of this trip, I took my ID and basic credit cards and cash and kept them on my person instead of lugging around a purse. This day was no different. I pulled out the cards that I wouldn’t be needing since I was with the hubby (bank cards and biz cards) and packed my wallet and purse away in the luggage to be locked up at the hotel while we were out around town. So off we go to see the sights.

Fast forward to the airport and Universal message #3. We can’t use the self-serve kiosks, because while I have my ID, my flier card, my confirmation email and my biz credit card are all in the suitcase. No biggie, I have my ID, right? So after checking in, before the bag runs through the x-ray, I figure I’ll pull out my wallet so I have it handy when I need my shuttle ticket. Well, I can’t seem to find it. I check my purse, my backpack, bags from purchases, and everywhere I think of in my suitcase, but no such luck. I have my ID and my major credit cards, so I don’t freak. Lucky for me, I have the most even-tempered husband out there and he’s not freaking. I soon realize though that I also had a blank, unsigned check in my wallet and a piece of paper with all my and my husband’s personal information (don’t ask – a relict of our dating days). So we get to the gate, call the bank, and cancel the bank cards since I can’t figure out if I lost my wallet in the room, or out on the streets of Chicago and better safe than sorry.

The entire flight I’m focusing on how what is lost is found again. And using positive thinking announcing to the Universe that my wallet will be in hand, somehow, once we get home. I wasn’t giving any outcome other than I’d have my wallet. I left the “how” up to the Universe. So once we get back to the car, I pick up my cell phone (that I left in my car) and check the messages, all while having a little chuckle to myself about leaving it behind and wasting money on the temp phone that I rarely even used. So we get home, I open the suitcase and empty it entirely. I’m about ready to start freaking out because I still don’t see my wallet and the hotel still hasn’t found it. Well, next thing I know, there it is stuffed between two shoes in the shoe pocket! Yay, all is well, and well, that which was lost, was found!! Yippee!

Now it’s the following morning. I’m running post-vacation errands around town (returning the rented camera lens, hitting the post office, etc.,). I reach into my purse to grab my cell phone (the original, the one I left behind) and I can’t find it. Universal message #4! So now I’m freaking out thinking that my husband is going to just lose it. So I’m doing my best to focus again on my lost item being found. I call it a few times in the house to see if I can hear the ring. No luck. I call while in my car to see if I can hear the ring. Again, no such luck.

So now I spend the rest of the day focusing again on my misplaced phone telling the Universe that I’m grateful for having found it. Again, I’m not focusing on the “how” just on the phone being found. My husband comes home from work and I break the news to him, all while assuring him that it’s somewhere in the house and it will show up. He just shakes his head and gets on with his business.

Around 11:30 that night, he reaches into his computer bag to get something and pulls out my cell phone! He just stares at it blankly, trying to process what it is and why it was in his computer bag and I just jump up from the couch screaming that I just knew it was here and reminded him that I said it would just show up. He shakes his head, tosses me the phone and just goes on with his business.

So I’m thinking that the Universe has some big ‘ol message for me. Maybe to unplug. Maybe to trust. Or maybe it’s just that nothing that is lost can’t be found. I’m not really sure since nothing is jumping out at me. All I know is that if you focus on something with enough trust, belief and gratitude, anything is possible!