Lost and Found

Marijana Čuvalo
3 min readMay 24, 2022

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Photo of my favourite gate in Makarska. Taken with my phone.

A few weeks ago, I lost my phone. It fell out of my pocket on my walk home.

One week later, thanks to a tourist from Poland, I got my phone back.

And now, I’m dumping some thoughts and reflections on losing and finding the phone.

Here goes my ramble.

Things I learned during my week without my phone:

There's always a plan B. And if you don't have a plan B for some aspect of your life, start creating it, start musing over it, and start dreaming about it.

I brought two phones with me to Croatia. One had my Canadian number, the other my Croatian number.

That was plan A. Keep both numbers, keep both phones.

When I lost my phone, I was frustrated. It was a newer phone. It took better photos. But I knew I had a second phone, and it would serve its purpose until I figured out what to do. I guess that was my plan B.

Sometimes I don't have a plan B.

But think about how beautiful life would be if we created more than one option, more than one scenario for some aspect of our lives? Disappointment wouldn't sting as much. Loss wouldn't hurt as much.

I am not saying I plan to create a plan B for every aspect of my life. But being open to the possibility of another option, another way of doing something, seems to make life a tad more manageable and potentially much more joyful.

Don't hold on too tightly to plan A.

I took my precious time deciding what to do with my Canadian phone plan. A big part of me was ready to part with it. But a tiny part of me kept thinking: Keep it. Because, what if?

I was holding on a little too tightly to that Canadian number. There was no need for it. Not in today's world.

My number had been with me for years. Maybe 20 years. Perhaps a part of me held on to that number because I held on to the past. After all, it was safe. But sometimes, playing it safe means you don't learn; you don't grow.

I finally let go of my Canadian phone plan, and I'm fine. One less bill. One less phone to carry around. More space to create new plans.

Who did I think I was anyway? A president? A spy?

There are good people out there.

I posted my lost phone story on Instagram. I posted that someone found my phone and dropped it off at the police station. Several people sent me messages, and most of them included something along the lines of "Nice to know there are still good people out there."

The comments caught me off guard. Still good people out there? What's happening? Was I living in another world?

Granted, I focus a lot more on myself these days. This means I don't spend as much time focused on world events.

Yes, I know what's happening. I'm up to date with current events, but I don't spend hours being consumed or bombarded by the news. I make a great effort to set boundaries and ensure that at the end of the day, my mind isn't spinning because of things happening around the world. I spend more time noticing the good out there.

I didn't think there would be another story about my phone. It's just a phone.

But here I am. Reflecting. Learning. Being present and celebrating the little things.

It always comes back to the little things.

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Marijana Čuvalo

Canadian Croatian living in Croatia/Writing about My Adriatic Adventure/ Read more about my adventures here: https://www.marijanacuvalo.com/