Patagonia wetsuits ---- good karma----LOST and FOUND--- Don't lose the lesson in the loss

Two weeks ago I made a horrible mistake.
The sun was out, my wetsuit was wet, and I decided to lay it across the canopy on the back of my truck to dry it out.
We were having a great streak of surfing in the beginning of December----on the northern Oregon coast----and I was looking forward to another great day of head high waves with offshore wind.

But I made the mistake of leaving my wetsuit on the truck as I drove away in search of waves…………
And when I had realized what I had done----it was too late.
My beautiful wool lined wetsuit, made by Patagonia, is one of my prize possessions.
It allows me to surf in cold water and never feel anything but warm, cozy, and energized from the flexibility.
I have a love affair with clothing that allows me to enjoy the great outdoors. And this particular wetsuit was the best $600 I had ever spent for such adventures. I have lived and surfed in the cold water of Oregon for over 20 years and I have never been so comfortable surfing in the dead of winter----even when it is snowing.

My heart was racing-------because I had lost a huge sense of 'security in my lifestyle'.

I turned the truck around and scoured every inch of the country road I had traveled.
Grass-----blackberry bushes-----fir trees----and a few dead raccoons lined the edges of the asphalt.
But no wetsuit.

It had only been 15 minutes? And there are very few surfers in the area----who would have taken my suit.

I thought back to last winter when I first bought this suit.
And how I did the EXACT same thing after only owning the suit for 3 weeks.

I had to spray paint a sign on the road reading...
"Lost wetsuit---please call (my phone number)"

Miraculously a man had found the suit and called me....

Realizing this was the SECOND time I had lost my suit "to the road" was enough to convince me to lose hope.
I will never find it twice?
My karma is not that good?

I live in a fisherman rich area (not a rich fisherman area).

And commercial fisherman would recognize my hooded neoprene rubber suit as a survival suit. This is something they know is expensive……and so I wrote off the SECOND loss of my favorite piece of outdoor clothing-----and recited to myself……

“don’t lose the lesson in the loss”

I decided to roll my truck down to Cleanline surf shop and buy myself another suit---exactly the same.

My insecurities were eased as I knew I was 'back in heavenly warmth' with the wetsuit of my dreams---but I was indeed out another $600.

It has been 2 weeks.
I just returned from a trip to Portland where we did some Christmas shopping.
I didn’t really find anything to buy.
I came close.
When I was in a camera store I examined the idea of buying a camera strap for my father who is an avid photographer.
The camera strap was made of neoprene and I thought that it was unique and reminded me of a wetsuit. Completely by accident I had thrown one of the straps over my left hand (holding a bag) and walked out of the store with it.
When I had realized that I walked out with merchandise I didn’t pay for I had three thoughts.

1. I just got a free camera strap and they didn’t notice!?

2. I have a decision to make because I can go home with this strap and save myself $50 by giving it to my dad for a present.....or....??

3. I cannot walk away with this strap as it will surely confuse the karma in my life and nothing good will become of it------it’s wrong...….bad deal.

It wasn’t just the guilt----
I am not a thief.

And so-----I wandered back into the store----a bit embarrassed ----and a bit relieved----since none of the employees even saw me put it back on the shelf.



…………….Home------------it was a 2 hour drive through rain and fog.

Happy to be home…..I opened the daily newspaper and checked out the local happenings.

Not much new----------wandered to the classifieds------still nothing new-------------it‘s a small town and the classifieds literally stay the same for a week at a time.

Bored----I wander to the lost and found.
A section I never read.

But hey look that lost kitten looks like our cat Lilly??!?

But of course----Lilly is not lost she is right here eating her food.


And then-------my eyes wandered upon the magic of the human spirit.

The magic of the giving nature of humans which DOES still exist.

There were the words which I had to read three times to believe.

“FOUND: Wetsuit on 101 Business just before the Tire store. Call to identify--”

And the phone number ----which I called ….still in disbelief.

The little old lady who answered explained that she knew that wetsuits were expensive and that she would not want to lose anything like that--------because she is on a limited income and would hate to lose something so valuable.

We talked for a few minutes and agreed to meet tomorrow for the exchange.

She will give me the wetsuit------and I am giving her a gift certificate for a LARGE QUANTITY of coffee drinks from her favorite coffee stand.

Upon hanging up the phone I reflected on the entire day………..I thought about the camera strap………made of neoprene……….the same material this wetsuit is made of………and how life has an amazing way of teaching us things.

How I felt like I was doing right by returning the camera strap today-------but another part of me was kicking and screaming saying that I was ‘losing’ something that I could walk away with for free.

No one would ever notice.

But sometimes we have to lose------and not ‘lose the lesson in the loss’.

Even when it involves feeling like we are losing something when we are really doing something RIGHT.

Would I have even read the newspaper tonight?
Would I instead have been too busy wrapping my dads present?

Tomorrow-----------I am going surfing----------in the wetsuit that was given BACK to me.

I am not losing the lesson in that loss.