es we sustain through lack of correct observation and judgment—for example, the train that we lose, because we have not allowed sufficient time to catch it.
Again, there are the losses which come to us through our contact with brains and powers superior to our own, such as the lost deal in business, the lost match at tennis, billiards, or football—all very disheartening.
It is sad enough to lose concrete objects, but it is far, far worse to be bereft of abstract joys. Concrete articles are very often returned to us in the most marvelous manner, while sometimes they are not really lost at all—we have not looked sufficiently for them—and frequently we come across lost property quite by accident long after we have given up the search. Abstract losses are generally far harder to recover—loss of affection, loss of energy, loss of nerve, loss of good spirits, loss of faith, both in ourselves and others, loss, for a time, of hope. Every man in his journey through life drops, mislays, or sustains, for a time, some of these losses, and the darkness which surrounds him while they are lost, and none but he who is without them can understand.
But let us end on a happier note. The sorrow of “losing things” is nothing to the wonderful joy of repossessing. And yes, there is one loss which in itself is a glorious gladness, and that is to lose your heart to the right man or woman.