Lawd, you made the night too long

Despite getting robbed over the weekend - I'll get to that in a minute - life has been pretty good. I was thinking earlier today that I'm surrounded, more or less, by  good people. Not a lot of toxicity hereabouts. Just the way I like it. So here I am, raising an invisible glass, making a toast of appreciation.

This past Saturday the plan was to doing some hiking in the Fells with Nina,Spira and the lovely Missy D followed by dinner and a movie (Gravity, son!). We took Spira's car - I sat in the back with Missy D -and when we arrived at the Fells, I debated whether to bring my wallet and phone on the walk. I decided to keep them in the car  because the only pockets I had were in my jeans and I didn't want anything falling out, not to mention having them there would be uncomfortable. To be safe, I put the phone and wallet under a blanket and, as we walked away from the car, I checked with Spira to make sure the doors were locked. She told me they were.

It was a nice day for a walk and we enjoyed it. Back at the car, I realized quickly that my stuff wasn't where I left it. The three of us looked everywhere, but no dice. Spira called my phone but it went straight to voice mail. That was when I knew for sure my stuff was stolen. I never shut my phone off and the battery had just been charged. So how did they get in the car? The rear window had been left wide open. None of us had noticed. Fuck.

As we drove away, I sat with the weight of everything I had to do, the stuff I needed to replace. And coating it all was the sticky feeling of being violated. I had just taken out close to a hundred dollars not an hour before our walk. Gone, son! And my phone? Why'd you have to steal that, too? Fucking asshole!

I won't go into the details about all the shit I had to do to get back on my feet, but there was a sizable list. Police report, banking, phone, etc. Fortunately, Spira had a pay-as-you-go phone and gave me some cash which helped a ton. I'd never experienced a situation like that when all of a sudden the stuff you need is taken from you. I had no ID, no money, no phone. I felt like a pauper.

Ah, but it wasn't so bad. I didn't let it overwhelm me; I stayed on task and kept a positive attitude (well most of the time). My mom was able to help out with a couple of things; I had the support of others, too. Situations like this suck, can get you cynical about the world, but I've seen it in a more positive light. As of last night, I took care of every thing that needed taking care of. That is good for me; I've been known to procrastinate. I feel good about the way I faced the challenges presented to me. So there's that. And, far from feeling cynical, I feel better about humanity. The support I got from people I know and ones I don't meant a lot and bolstered me with the sense I'd get through it all. And so far, so good.

We can't control what happens to us, but we can decide how we're going to react.

Namaste, friends!