Life or a Gagdet? Which is worth saving?

Hello Steemians Worldwide,

Just about a day before yesterday (Friday 23, November, 2018), I happened to unfortunately lose my phone to one random thug while on my way back home in a public van along Entebbe Road, Lubowa - Uganda to be precise.

The evening looked bright, the sky was filled with warm beautiful sunset colors. I had earlier rang my sweetest and friendliest of cousin sisters Val (not real name) to let her know that I was to board a taxi to come pay her a visit as it had been close to two years without seeing or hearing from her as she is a distant relative from the wild wild west of Kenya.

I boarded a van to Kampala as it is a two-part journey from where I study (Uganda Christian University - Mukono) to where my cousin lives in Entebbe. She lives at the top of a beautiful hill just below and at the back of the Special Forces Command Barracks also neighboring the State House of Uganda (For my own safety and security reasons I will not attach photos of this neighborhood).

The hill offers a clean view of Lake Victoria (Source of the River Nile) and Entebbe International Airport where we are able to see planes land and takeoff. Apparently Entebbe International Airport is undergoing expansion and construction whose progress we are also able to see.

On the eve of my phone being snatched through the window of the back seat of the taxi, I was taking shots of the late evening sunset sky filled with warm sunset-colors and abstract forms of clouds over the hills opposite the highway we travelled on. I had taken over 25+ shots of the sunset and was still counting. Any photographer can relate and knows how addictive and attractive it is to capture images that bring life and put a greater use to any camera/lens enabled device.

It was at this point of reviewing which shots were captured awesomely so I could make a selection of images I could edit using my PicsArt application on my Infinix Smart 2 (three weeks old) phone that I got a shocking reception of a tough reality of the loss of my phone. At the moment I was listening to "Last Memory" by Takeoff (one of the members of the Migos Trio) off of his recently released solo album "The Last Rocket". The vibe was all awesome as it had me chewing on some popcorns as I calmly edited one of the finest shots I had been lucky enough to take. I had hardly concluded applying a few filters on the image and realized the vehicles slowed down as usually this road (Entebbe Road) is significant for its traffic jam as people drive all the way from Entebbe to the Capital - Kampala and back from work. Friday evenings are not the kind of evenings any time conscious individual would want to spend on this road as the traffic could take close to one or two hours before you can even get home.

I got so comfortable and proceeded with the editing as this was the only way I'd stop myself from being impatient about the traffic delays. In the event of attempting to save the image to my phone gallery I felt thunderous grasp of my phone and it was just a few seconds after I realized my phone was long gone and only to look through the window, this thug was crossing the road to the opposite end of the highway and the vehicles had started to move. I was shocked and all the passengers too were in disbelief. I felt like jumping out of the window and chase this "ninja" but then I realized I had only one-way transport to drop me at Entebbe town and so I had to give up the chase and accept my new reality and bear with the loss of my phone plus these thugs move in gangs and have territories of operation.

The night was longer than usual as I was still mourning my loss and anybody that has lost or had their phone stolen knows how tough it is to accept such a loss. It is basically a sleepless night of evaluating how much value the phone was, how to collect all the contacts one by one, letting everyone know of your loss, figuring out how to punish these criminals, figuring out how to recoup money to acquire another phone, loss of contact with your loved ones... like seriously you are faced with a tough choice of choosing to put the whole thing behind your back and moving on.

This brings me to the question of whether one should attempt to recover their loss through any possible means at the expense of their life or moving on. The beauty about my ordeal is after the loss of my phone, I asked myself whether it was worth moving on or taking a shot at recovering my phone at all costs even if it meant tracking its where abouts for a year or more just to punish this thug. All this was selling me is the urge to revenge and avenge my loss based on the emotions I felt at the moment.

I realized the importance of letting go real quick and focusing on how to move on positively after such unforeseen and unexpected events. I thought it out straight and came to a conclusion that "The longer we hold on to something, the greater the pain we feel and the more difficult it is to focus on adjusting and taking positive actions towards recovering from the situation in the event of loss".

I am sharing this so as to get your advise, views and suggestions on how we all can get to know the importance of life prior to our attachment to our gagdets, smartphones and whatever gadget it is we really attach so much value to to the extent that we could almost lose our sanity.

At some point yesterday I almost disconnected from the world and everyone I knew because of the difficulty I faced with letting go of the loss of my phone. Anyone that owns a smartphone knows what kind of world of doors and connections this small device can impact on their lives. I contemplated on the loss of access to my bank account, my email, social media accounts, my photos, my contacts to mention but a few. All of this was only making me thinking of the negative and miss out on the beauty of life and positive thinking.

It wasn't until today afternoon that I realized this loss was making me forget that I had one big family the Steemit Family and community. For as long as I have you then the world is a better place far beyond mourning over a gagdet. I appreciate you as it was writing about this that made me come out of that loop of sadness.

Lastly I want to encourage you all that in any event of loss, always remind yourself that the brain that got you through all the hustle and enabled you to acquire what you have today is still the same brain you have. You only need to give it the right environment and attitude to get back to focus and in a short space of time you will realize that you will acquire even far better than the previous loss.

Through your positive movement, I believe I will be restored to even a much better place. I march with you all the way dear Steemians and biggest fam. Lets keep it moving and climbing.

Have an awesome day by doing awesome and keeping it awesome!

Kind regards,

@neta.mos256