Finding the Needle in the Haystack

I proved this past weekend that it really is possible to find the needle in the haystack!

I have one of those giant shop-vac vacuum cleaners in my garage. About 5 years ago, the wheel assembly that the vacuum cleaner rested on fell apart. Someone who was working for me told me it had broken, but they couldn't get it back together. There was a particular screw missing that was needed to put the wheel assembly back together.

Over the past 5 years I've used the vacuum cleaner from time to time and I'm always frustrated to have to lift and carry it in order to move it around.

I'd thought about junking it and replacing it, but that seemed extremely wasteful! I didn't want to get rid of a perfectly good machine because of a simple screw. I didn't use it often enough to be too bothered.

As my garage cleaning efforts have progressed, I have taken careful note of any screws that I've found in the process. This weekend, it finally happened. I found the missing screw buried in a pile of empty boxes! This was about 12 hours into my cleaning project I at last found the coveted 'missing link!'

It seemed impossible. I have a large garage. It has been a mess and totally disorganized since I moved in 9 years ago. This screw had been 'missing' for 5 long years.

I honestly thought I'd need to locate a new screw. This may not seem like a challenge, but it really, truly proved to be. Turns out this was a bit of an odd screw. I had looked several times and always turned up empty!

This experience really reminded me that anything can happen! It also reminded me that nothing is ever really 'lost.' Just because I couldn't find it didn't mean it wasn't there. It was there, all along, waiting to be discovered.

If you feel like you've lost something... keep looking for it! Don't give up hope that you might just find it. Roll up your sleeves, apply a little elbow grease and keep the faith!