This was about a month back. I had brought a new board game for children, Carrom. My nieces were over and I was excited to introduce them to the game which I used to love playing myself as a child.
But my excitement soon turned into disappointment to hear that kids had lost it’s striker somewhere. Striker is a vital part of this game, you can’t play the game without it.
I asked my niece, “Saesha, where is the striker?”
She smiled and said,“I don’t know. It is lost and we just can’t find it.”
I was furious and this was not acceptable. How could she lose something and so conveniently say she can’t find it.
I said, “Okay, so you have searched for it and can’t find it, right?
She said, “Yes!”
I said, “Okay. Then keep searching for it until you do find it!”
I soon got busy with something and about one hour later, I saw all the kids except Saesha were watching TV. I asked and they said she was still in the playroom. I went there and found Saesha still looking for the lost striker. Her eyes full of tears just waiting to come down. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “You had asked me to keep searching until I find it. I still can’t find it.”
I was ashamed of myself for being so harsh on my little sweetheart. I had to do something to make her feel better. I suddenly recalled that as kids, we used to also lose a lot of things.
I had once lost my favorite mouth organ and Mom had told me, “You can’t find it, right? Now don’t look for it and you will find it.”
It is hard not to look for it but when I eventually did, I magically found it!
The trick worked every time and this had almost become a game for us as kids. Whenever any one lost something, we would shout, “Don’t look for it and you will find it.”
I decided to use the same trick with Saesha and told her not to look for the striker and then she would find it. At least, that brought a smile on her face. I realized that her smile was worth more than the price of any game.
It was only a matter of time and the lost striker appeared from somewhere. The trick had worked and we cheered!
I was more surprised than Saesha that this trick worked now too! I used to believe it as a child but it was different now. I was now grown up, and had dismissed this long back as being just a coincidence. After all, I had become logical and rational and it was silly to think that not searching for something can have a greater chance of finding it than searching for it. That would be ridiculous and at best a nice childhood fantasy.
But life has made me reconsider that.
Recently at work, I racked my brains trying to solve an issue. I had already spent many conscious hours on it, in vain. I was once referred to as the Troubleshooter, a title that gave me a great sense of pride. And now, I could not solve what I would classify as a Medium complexity issue. I could not digest that. But it was late and I had to call it a day.
While driving back home, I was simply looking at the skyline and enjoying nature’s mystical beauty. And Bam! The solution to that problem at work unfolded in my head so clearly and so completely. I had found the solution when I didn’t look for it! It was like Magic.
The trick that worked when I was a child really did work now too!
I am pretty sure others have experienced this Magic too. However, most, like me, have grown up to brush these aside as sheer coincidences. But coincidences are God’s way of telling us He exists!
“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” ― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It
I now try to be intentional about making time to forget the problems of work and life. To simply look at the sky, the trees or a flower. Whenever I do that, I get a deeper understanding of life and everything that is part of it.
If you don’t believe me, then it’s not as if trying it out for yourself will cost you something. Don’t look for it and you will find it.
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