Several weeks ago I lost my prescription sunglasses/bifocals. I use them for driving and having bifocals makes it easy to look down and see my dashboard as well as deciphering road signs. They usually reside in my purse. However my purse, like my closets, is so full it’s often open rather than snapped closed. The glasses disappeared between my front door and the car. Because I was late for an appointment and could not stop to look for them, I left without them and Plan A was to look for them when I got home. Alas, they did not show up when I retraced my steps on arriving home, leaving me distraught at the thought of the cost of replacing them. Nothing. No trace of them. Besides the cost, I’m really fond of them. They’re really cute with rhinestones on the rim and, as I’ve gotten older, I am more and more attracted to things that glitter.
Plan B: Write up a note for all my neighbors in case they found them and didn’t know to whom they belonged. My fingers were crossed but no response.
Plan C: Not to give up. I did make an appointment with the eye doctor to replace them but I kept visualizing them showing up. And, voilà, indeed they did show up. As I did one last search in my car a small paper bag fell on the floor and out tumbled the glasses.
So, now the gist of my story and the whole point of my sharing this with you, dear reader.
As I walked back to my apartment I passed Jeannie, my very friendly neighbor who is often outside tending her gorgeous plants on her patio. She was schmoozing with Betty, another neighbor, and waving to me she asked, “How are things going?” I told her the story of my sunglasses, which then, most happily, adorned my face. She shared my joy because she knew that I had lost them.
I told her about my visualization and the story of my late husband, Michael Toms, who was unable to find anything. Often, he’d ask for something that was right in front of his face. I’d say, “It’s right there in the cabinet.” Honestly it was bewildering to me that he was unable to see it. He would open the refrigerator and ask where the mayonnaise was. I’d say it’s right there in the door shelf and, as if he were blind, he was unable to see it.
Years later I realized what that was about and I shared my theory with my neighbors. If you are looking for something, you won’t be able to see it unless you first see it in your imagination. It’s a matching game—first conjuring the object in our mind’s eye and then discovering its twin in our physical reality. So, when lost objects are the issue, besides praying to the invisible entities called the Finders, we must first visualize that object in our mind’s eye. That becomes a magnet of energy looking for a match. It’s an activation of our inner psychic radar. This was an aha moment for me to recognize that visualizing something is the first step in finding lost objects. This step is the one that Michael was missing: the instruction to visualize what he was looking for and then go to the refrigerator and match the visualization with the actual object.
In a recent interview (airing in October) Lisa Broderick, author of All The Time in the World, writes, “Imagine that what you want to create has already occurred in every sense: visually, experientially, and emotionally. Put out of your mind any explanation for how it has happened; simply accept that it is done and complete. Immerse yourself deeply in the sensations of what has been created as well as the feeling of relief or satisfaction that it’s already accomplished.”
Jeannie was delighted by my premise and suggested that I tell her 55-year-old son about this technique. Betty suggested that if our partners and our children couldn’t find something and the visualization didn’t work, then we should volunteer to find it for a fee. “Okay, I’ll find the ketchup bottle for five bucks.” We all laughed as I walked away with my glitter encrusted sunglasses.
Next time you lose something try my visualization technique and let me know how it works.
-Justine Willis Toms
