“From bad things, good things happen” – this quote was emailed to my mother in the Chinese and English language, from a Cathay Pacific airline hostess. Why? Because my mum was travelling to Glasgow, via Hong Kong and on the overnight stretch, she lost a precious family heirloom. It was my Nanna’s favourite piece of jewellery, a gorgeous pink tourmaline ring that was at least 50 years old. Of course my mum was inconsolable when she discovered the ring was lost, and the hostess calmed her down and promised to search the seating area after passengers had disembarked from the plane. The crew and cleaners unfortunately did not locate the ring and mum was promptly advised by Cathay Pacific, and in the body of the email, was the quote. For this awful event to happen at the beginning of mum’s overseas trip was indeed a bad thing!
A week after she arrived in the Scotland, I spoke to my mum and we chatted about losing Nanna’ ring. Mum told me how she found the quote comforting. Rather than focus on the negatives, we talked about the positives. Good things will happen and an opportunity will present itself. Yes, she lost a valuable item, in terms of both monetary and sentimental worth. However, she will replace this jewellery with something even more precious – another stunning ring just for her. One that she will choose to buy.
The point of my story is that my mother never buys herself jewellery. All of it has been handed down from her mother, her aunt, her cousin or my dad’s mum. The first “real” piece she bought was an gold Alaskan necklace as a memento from her holiday last year with a group of friends. Now she gets to buy a replacement ring that she wants. We talked about this new piece of jewellery as something that will speak to her when she locks eyes on it. Mum will be drawn to it for some reason or some purpose. It may be overseas while she is on her next adventure, or it might be back home in Australia, it might even be an antique. It really doesn’t matter. When the timing is right, mum will intuitively know what to do.
What has happened, has happened and she cannot go back in time to change the past. What she can do is find another item that will bring her the same joy when she wears it. There is no purpose to dwell upon, or worry about the bad things that have happened in life. It is negative thinking. Good things will come along, you just need to be patient, calm and ready for when that opportunity appears. Then grab it, move forward and be at peace with yourself.
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