Stroke of Luck

I had one of the coolest experiences about four days before I was set to leave for Amsterdam.  It was the weekend before finals, and my friend Loryn was having a birthday celebration at The Oxygen Bar in Leicester Square.  Now I have been extremely economical this trip and have refrained from buying really anything that wasn't absolutely essential (if you don't count cigarettes of course).  So this particular day I thought to myself, "I want to buy a new outfit."  I had been wearing the same clothes for about two and a half months now, and had a sudden urge to wear something new.  

So I figured out how much time I had before I needed to meet back up with everyone, and set off for the store.  That day there was some kind of fire alarm at one of the stations on the Piccadilly Line so there was an inordinate amount of people crowding the tube stations.  Since I quite enjoy walking, I hopped off the tube and decided to tackle the rest of the journey on foot.  Once above ground I power walked all the way to H&M, weaving through the masses of people in front of Harrods, and getting to my destination in good time.  

That's when I noticed something horrible had happened.  At some point between where I stood and the last time I had gotten off the tube my wallet had disappeared.  I checked every inch of my purse, pockets, anywhere that my wallet could have possibly been and after about five minutes had to concede that I had dropped it somewhere.  In a silent state of panic, I slowly started weaving back through the crowds; scanning the ground as much as humanly possible to see if I could spot it.  In desperation I called my friend, just because I felt like I needed to talk to someone or I might start crying.  Luckily I maintained composure, and he helpfully and calmly gave me suggestions of what to do next.  So I headed back the way I came from, made it back to the station, and asked every employee I could find if anyone had turned in a wallet.    After about forty minutes of asking every employee, every news stand, coffee shop, and whoever else I thought might have any information I was still left empty handed.  I walked away from the tube station with the pamphlet telling me what to do if you loose your oyster card in my hand, and my mind whirling with the myriad of predicaments I was about to find myself in.

I moped out onto the sidewalk and pulled out my phone to call my mom.  I was just about to dial her number and ask her to help me cancel all my cards when my phone rang.  It was someone who worked for AIFS, and she was calling to tell me that a British girl named Claire found my wallet on the street and brought it into the V&A museum.  I stopped walking, looked up to the museum that was literally right across the street and almost had to stifle a laugh.  There is just no way that I could have been so lucky.  I hadn't even walked by the museum because I was walking on the opposite side of the street.  I sprinted across the street, picked up my wallet with a huge smile on my face, and called the beautiful Claire to thank her for saving my life.  

Now I have to admit that in that hour and a half long time frame when I had thought my wallet was gone forever, I was starting to feel almost like I deserved for this to happen.  I am attributing this mindset to the remnants of my conservative Christian education.  Even though my views and opinions of God have changed, there are still those moments of doubt where I think that maybe I have become a little bit too liberal and the guilt sets in.  So, during that hour and a half I kept thinking that maybe I deserve this.  The previous week I had ditched school, drank far too much alcohol, smoked copious amounts of marijuana, and participated in several other morally questionable activities.  For that hour and a half, I was sure that this was God's retribution.  "I have just been too happy," I thought to myself.

The most beautiful part of the story though is that my doubt was needless.  I never needed to feel guilt, or to question the activities that I had openly and willingly participated in.  There is no such thing as being "too" happy.  The God that I have faith in creates positive energy, and I truly feel that any time you embrace that positivity that you are embracing God.  You can still live life, make mistakes, get carried away, and embrace God for the positive, loving creator that he is.  I threw out some positive energy, and God threw some back.  

Who knows why I lost my wallet.  Maybe it was because I was careless and left it in my pocket.  Perhaps it was God saving me from spending money on an outfit that I most definitely did not need.  Regardless of why it happened, all I know is that because it did I feel like I have even more faith in God.  Maybe that's a bit dramatic, and maybe I'm reading way too far into the situation, but then on the other hand what could possibly be bad about having more faith in God anyway?