That Last Glance

There are some simple habits that we can build, that have a huge impact in our lives. Such habits can free us from so much hassle and inconvenience through our days. The sooner we can implement them, the lesser we lose and life becomes so much easier.

Cosmos coach in Austria

One of such things in life is that last glance. I know some people who are constantly looking for one thing or another resulting into frustration and disturbance. If only they would integrate this habit into their everyday lives, I’m sure that at least half of their worries would be gone.

First Great Western Train, London

Living in and around a busy city like London, public transport is more a way of life than a preference. If you learn to look back at your seat every time you get up to leave your bus, tube or train, a lot of your problems will be sorted out. Every time I get up to leave the public transport, I always make sure I look back at my seat one last time. Many times I have found my umbrella, phone, diary or ticket slipped out on the seat. It is a good idea to look around the seat too; like foot space, the seat next to yours and arm rest.

Out of the 5 years that I spent here, there was only a single instance when I actually misplaced my ticket. That was the only time when I must have misplaced my ticket somewhere else in the tube as I did check my seat when I got up. As fate would have it, it had to be the most expensive ticket that I ever purchased here (30 Pounds Day Pass). Unfortunately, I had to purchase a return ticket to get back home. I remember how tragic wasting money on a new ticket felt as that could’ve been spent on something useful.

Victoria Station – Waiting Area

The reason I am emphasizing this habit in public places is because if by mistake we forget something there, there’s almost no way that it can ever be found. The probability of finding your belonging from a public transport is near 5 percent; if its in London its probably just 1. So the best bet is not to forget your belongings in there no matter what!

Liverpool Street Station, London

A young girl was visiting my place from USA a few years ago and I took her on The Sightseeing Tours bus. I can not forget the look on her face when she realized just after coming off the bus that she had forgotten her bag in there (with her camera, phone, gifts and money). We ran to the bus and checked the seat she was sitting on properly before the bus went off. There was no sign of anything whatsoever. Seeing the little girls face full of tears, I reported the crime and informed the ‘Lost & Found’ department. I realized soon that my effort was all in vain. There is absolutely no way that anything that has been forgotten in public transport is found and returned to the owner.

I remember watching the movie “The Words” in which the writer’s whole handwritten book was forgotten in the train; His whole life’s hard work. By losing all this writing, the writer lost his identity and his whole life was messed up. Some losses are too big to recover from or ever be forgotten. Its amazing how such a small habit (of looking back just before leaving) could have saved that writer’s life.

Other than traveling, this tip is equally important to follow whenever one leaves his/her house, room, car, or any other place. Every morning when I’m leaving my home for work, just before I step out of the main door I quickly check appliances like my straightener, iron and cooker to make sure they are switched off. This security check just takes one minute but its impact is great as these appliances can be perilous.

For those of us who are always losing their things, we need to make a habit of looking back at where we were, every time we are about to get up from one place. So if we were driving and we have reached our destination, just when we’re getting out of the car, we have to make sure we have taken everything out from there (gloves, phone, sunglasses, house keys etc)  before we lock the car up and move away. If we are going to another room within our house, we can look back to see if we’ve dropped anything there on our couch. Chances are that we will find our lipstick, pen, receipt or diary which may have been on the verge of being lost.

I had written this post in mid-2012 but since I’ve just recently launched this blog, I’m sharing it now. I hope we all can remember this little trick to help ourselves. Thanks for taking the time out to read this. Hope you liked it.