On discovering money has disappeared - two options

 I'm not writing this as a sob story. It's more of a bit of thought processing I guess. Maybe it'll have something of help for you.

I discovered the other day that a not insubstantial amount of dollars and pounds had disappeared from my bag. I don't know when it went, or where I was when it went, or who might have taken it. I just know it's disappeared.

Now I realise some of you will be saying - why do you carry money with you: unfortunately not everywhere is a cash-less society, especially in some of the countries I am travelling in. 

And some of you might be saying - why didn't you keep it locked up: fair comment, maybe I had become complacent, and felt a bit too trusting and safe. 

Reality is, one day I discovered that it was no longer in the place where I thought it should have been, and having checked with the hosts of where I had been staying and who I had been with, I can only imagine it was taken as an opportune theft.

The learning points that came from me were a few. Clearly there were the obvious ones about being more careful, locking valuables away, and being less complacent.

But the main one was about how to mentally cope with the situation. I had two choices:

1. I slumped into a state of frustration, trusting no-one, worrying about whether I'll manage without the cash, feeling like a total failure

2. I accept what has happened, decide to learn from it, and pray that whoever has gained the money now has food on their table, the rent money has been covered, and that if any left over they are using it to bless some others who are also less fortunate.

I admit I did have an hour or so of choosing option 1. But after that, I gave myself a good talking to, and switched to option 2. As a result, my head feels clearer, the day feels more manageable, and I am just trusting that God will supply for my needs, just as my loss has maybe supplied someone else's needs.

It was definitely a reminder of the importance of the choices we make in when tough things happen, and the difference that can have on the outlook and way forward.