How To Have A Good Reaction To A Terrible String Of Events

We live in a big universe. At any given second there are thousands of migrating variables that all can collide at once resulting in a wide array of different results. But while we can’t control what happens to us on the outside, we do possess the ability to control how we react.

This past weekend I was casually grabbing drinks at my usual bar, with a good friend, and it finally was beginning to feel like spring outside. The evening was going along was running smoothly as Adam and me reminisced over travel stories and laughed as we thought about what the future holds.

Within no less than 15 seconds the night would take a turn for the better or the worse. (I will let you decide). My purse was stolen off the back of my chair—with it the theft took my phone, my license, my credit card, and my apartment keys.

I know a lot of my friends who may have jumped up in panic, caused a large scene, maybe even come close to crying. But instead I took a few deep breathes, asked to get a hold of someone back home to cancel the phone and the cards and simply moved on for the rest of the evening.

I was not physically harmed, I was with a friend I could trust, and I had access to whiskey and a shot glass- I would be just fine. I think in our society we forget that personal possessions should really fall second to the people and connections we have in life. While of course this was something that is unfortunate that happened, I am very lucky to have a mother who loves me enough to do her best to help me from a distance, have friends who stand by me to pick up the pieces, and to have a sense of humor to think that “hey, at least I will get a good story out of this”.

When this big universe gives me a curveball to play with in life, I use it as a sense of reflection to see how much I have grown. If this happened 5 years ago it may have very well played out differently, but at age 23 (almost 24) I can see how mature, calmer, and wiser I’ve become.