The dead of winter late one night was when I saw it. Scrolling through my Instagram feed it stood out enough to stop my aimless distraction. An old typewriter, parched paper and a few faded words: Note to self: Be here in this moment. TRUST in the process and let the future UNFOLD.
For most of the year I had been trying to escape the moment, hoping that I would wake up and it would all be over. But something shifted that night reading the words of the wise typewriter. A realisation that wishing something away, wishing something wasn’t happening is not the way to live. Being in the moment is and more so trusting in the process is the only way to get through.
So I double tapped the image, closed my iPad and went to sleep with the first real sense of resolution I had for months. And as the future unfolded the process has not failed me and the year is getting better.
Today I want to share with you not just my half-told story on how important it is to trust in the process but Joe’s story. Remember Joe from Stories of You? He quit his corporate job to travel the world and ended up in Bolivia helping the children who lived in jail? Joe who fixed the bus? You can catch up on Joe’s story here.
Back in 2014, two days before he returned home from his incredible journey Joe posted this on his social media feed: DEVASTATED – Is probably the best word to describe how it feels when on the second last day of a 7.5 month trip while at the beach relaxing your backpack gets stolen. Lost 7.5 months of photos on my iPhone and eight weeks of photos from my camera. It was insured but the photos are irreplaceable. Feeling pretty flat right now.
Everyone who read Joe’s update that day was devastated for him. It made no sense why the process would be so cruel. Despite all his efforts to find the camera, Joe returned home without his photos.
Over a year later another social media update from Joe appeared on my feed: This morning I got a message on my phone in Spanish with two photos attached. A lady in Chile has my memory card that was stolen along with my backpack. She tracked me down using details on a luggage tag I had tucked into one of the pockets and is going to mail me the card tomorrow! Two memory cards got stolen that day, one in the camera and one in a pocket in the backpack. I’m pretty sure I already have all the photos contained on this card as she told me it has pictures of Japan. It was the one in the camera I don’t have, but I’m hoping I’m wrong that I swapped the cards around and don’t remember. It’s also a bit of a mystery how she messaged me since the number on the luggage tag is not my number now. My guess is that she sent it on an iPhone to my email and iMessage delivered it to my phone. Fingers crossed it’s got my missing pics and thanks to the lady who contacted me.
Two months later another social media update, one we all were waiting with bated breath for: Yesterday I went to the post office to collect an envelope. I knew what was going to be in the envelope, the memory card that was found on a road in Chile by a kind lady who bent over to pick up car keys she accidentally dropped. She managed to track me down using a photo of a luggage tag that had my email address on it (photo 430 of 2632). The lady told me it had photos of Japan and I had all those photos already, it was the camera memory card that I didn’t have. So I wasn’t very excited to be picking it up. When I got home I loaded the card and started to have a look it was to my total astonishment and amazement I saw it had all my lost photos. Every single photo. I don’t know what the odds are that this card made it back to me 18 months after my bag was stolen but it borderlines on miraculous. This is truly something I’ll never forget!
The process whether we are in complete faith or blind doubt is always working to guide our way. Though it can be hard, letting go and trusting with abandon in this process can give us that lighter sense of being. Being in the moment, even when the moment is difficult and empty of answers keeps us grounded. The photos found their way back to Joe, against all odds and against any logic, because that’s how it was always meant to be. Trust in the process it is meant to be.
Do you trust in the process?
Do you have any stories to share on how life has taken you completely by surprise?
Disclosure: The breathtaking photos in this post were captured by Joe on his trip. They are four of the photos found on the lost memory card. Thank you Joe for once again allowing me to tell your story and share these photos.
And if you don’t already, please check out Deb at Inner Compass Designs and her wise typewriter on her Instagram feed
