Lost but Found

I have been looking for something for a long time. Something that I had lost. I couldn't remember where I lost it, how I lost it or even when I lost it. I just know that somewhere along the line it was gone. I thought I had placed it somewhere that it would be "safe", and then I forgot where I put it. I thought if I kept it hidden, it would not be able to get hurt, or be destroyed. But,I found that I hid it so well, I couldn't remember the hiding place. I have been searching for it now for many years, sometimes getting distracted in the search and putting it off until I had more time to really look.
This past year and a half, I diligently searched for it, I crawled into tight spaces and dark areas. I spent hours on my knees, crying out, wishing for some direction as to where it was. I took alot of time retracing my steps. I knew it was there, somewhere, right in the most unlikely place, right in front of me, but I just couldn't find it. Maybe even a little afraid to find what condition I had left it in. But I knew I could not give up, it was urgent.
Only recently, I found it. It was the most exhilarating moment for me. My heart started pounding with excitement. I started laughing and crying all at the same time from shear exhaustion from looking for it for so long. It was such a familiar thing,that I don't know how I had lost it at all. It must have been a slow process of losing it, because looking back I don't remember how I had lost it in the first place.
But, now that I have found it, I promise I will take better care of it, I will place it right in front of me, and daily look at it, so that I may NEVER lose it again. I discovered how precious, and wonderful it is, how I should have been taking care of it all along. It is so awesome to find something you lost for such a long time, and then to discover that it was never really lost at all. It was always there, in the place you left it, just waiting to be found.
What have you lost lately? what are you searching for? I encourage you to never give up, because one day when you least expect it, you will find exactly what you had been looking for.
Oh, What did Ifinally find, that had kept me searching for years? I found me!