What Losing My House Keys Taught Me

Truly, the nature of life is that it is a series of losses, and I don’t mean to suggest we don’t also have tremendous, incredible finds. KATHRYN SCHULZ

It was a simple Friday, I had gone to school, attended my lectures for that day, did a few things around the school, went to visit my friend’s house, and attended tutorial class in the evening. Finally, I was walking back to my apartment by 6 pm, I couldn't wait to eat some noodles, jump on my bed and sleep for about six hours and get ready for tomorrow.

I finally got to my door, placed my hand in my keys to remove my keys. But wait second, they weren't in my pockets, “I must have placed them in my backpack”, after checking my backpack over and over for 10 minutes. It dawned on me that I had lost my house keys.

“Where did I keep them?” , “Where exactly did I sit down?”, “Where?, Where? Where?”. After over 20 mins of asking myself these questions, I decided to retrace my steps, this led me to over 17 different places I had been that day. after searching for over 2 hours, it had become clear to me that I had lost my keys as they were nowhere to be found.

A lot of what preceded after that was not exactly great AT ALL, I had called my mother who was back at home informing her of what happened, and she didn't exactly pat me on the back, I could actually feel her seething rage through the phone. I then decided to call my Father, this was a decision I quickly came to regret, he was extremely angry at me to the extent that I could hear him complaining even as he ended the call.

Everything was sorted out the next day as the landlord had called a locksmith that fixed it. But after everything that had happened, after the frustrations, the lashing out I received from my parents, the awkward feeling I felt after spending the night at my neighbors' apartment (Yeah I actually did). I actually learned some things that I would not have learned if such an event had not occurred. some of the things I learned were;

Never “NOT” Be Prepared

When I moved into the apartment, I was given 6 keys for my room (Yeah 6 keys). I was in the apartment for over two weeks, would go out each day for lectures, attend different extracurricular activities, visit my friends' apartments, but not once did it ever dawn on me that I should keep at least a key keeps in a safe, separate place, not once did I think that it would be safer if I gave a key to my cousin who only lived 2 blocks from me. I believed and felt that nothing bad would ever happen. I simply wasn't prepared.

Do I Really Have To Tell Them?

After telling my parents what had happened, and after they well…. Lashed out at me. I came to realize that maybe, just maybe I shouldn’t have told them what happened, I could’ve taken care of things by myself (i actually did), I am an adult and can take care of myself, so maybe I might have been hasty in telling them what happened. don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t inform or ask for help when you get into trouble, it’s good to ask for help. I simply think that you should ask yourself a simple question when you are in a predicament; “Can I Handle This Effectively By Myself?”, if the answer to this question is yes. Then you don’t have to tell them, do you?

Have A Social Connection With People

I am an extremely shy person, and by shy I mean, I don’t even want to talk to people at all. So it’s basically just me and me alone, that’s the way I’ve always been and I actually liked it, but due to this occurrence, I realized how flawed this mindset was. When I lost my keys, my neighbor helped me to look for them, we were actually searching for 2 hours straight, after we were unable to find it, I ate my dinner and slept at his apartment. Of course, I said thanks and whatnot, but after that, I realized how helpful he was to me, this might be because I was in a predicament, but it was also because he was really a good person. But I never knew this because I never set out any time at all to find out what type of person he was. So make friends, come out for the awkward conversations at the night bonfire, maybe say something other than the occasional “good morning”, “good afternoon” and “goodnight”. If that is too much for you to do, then simply talk to them, this can actually go a long way.

Be Grateful

This was one of the worse days I've had in a very long time, but once the dust settled and some stability set in, I couldn't help to be grateful. Grateful for all the mixed emotions I felt, grateful for the amazing person I happened to have as a neighbor that helped me, grateful for how everything was sorted out, but most of all I was grateful for the fact that I lost the keys in the first place. Don't get me wrong I didn't plan to lose the keys, because I would never have learned the things I learned if these things had not happened.

Conclusion

Truly, the nature of life is that it is a series of losses, and I don’t mean to suggest we don’t also have tremendous, incredible finds. KATHRYN SCHULZ

I never really quite understood what this quote meant, at least not until I had this seemingly terrible experience. , Nevertheless, it taught me a lot, taught me things I wouldn't have learned had the occurrence not happened. The losses or terrible situations you might be facing might just be there so that you can be a better version of yourself.