I was walking inside the building of Gare Du Nord, the Paris Central Train Station trying to find the way out. Feeling sick, tired, sleepy and half-deaf because of the horrible landing experience and the cold I caught, trying to wipe off my runny nose, carrying 3 luggage bags and a laptop, feeling miserable and stupid. “How come I can’t find the way out? Seems like I’m walking the same circle over and over again”.

I threw away or lost my boarding pass, right after I arrived at the train station, and didn’t worry about it much. I could have never possibly imagined that such a modern and developed country like France requires the passengers to use the boarding pass to exit the station.

I saw people passing me by in a rush, looking straight ahead as if intentionally trying to avoid any eye contact. “Excuse me, sir?”, I addressed the first one. But he just passed without looking at me. “Excuse me?”, I said to the second one but got the same reaction. “Excuse me? Excuse me? “Excuse me? Hello? Hey!”. I have never felt as invisible as I did at that moment. “Why is everybody ignoring me?” After all, I approached them at least 3 feet close, it was impossible for them not to see me. I tried to start a conversation with as many as 10 people to ask them how to get out of the building, but they just ignored me.

Then I finally remembered the story of my 65-year-old friend about her negative experience in Paris, as she was speaking English to Parisians. “That’s the reason why they ignore me! They just hate English people. Damn arrogant French!”, I thought to myself. My emotional level was raising up rapidly, while my reasonable mind kept saying “Stay cool, stay cool”.
Even though it was very hard to move around with 3 bags I still decided that the best way would be to ask the information desk. As I approached the glass window, I saw a big, dark-skinned woman who looked almost Arabic, with her head covered. “Excuse me? How do I get out of here?”. She leisurely raised up her eyes and looked at me. I was happily anticipating the upcoming help but got a shocking answer instead: “Française!” she said indifferently. “I’m sorry, but I don’t speak French, how do I get out of here!” I continued using my gestures. I’m an English teacher, and my students are 3-year-old Chinese kids. If kids can understand my gestures, this lady should have definitely understood what I was trying to ask. “Française!” I heard again. “Hey, you! Are you telling me that you work at the Information Desk of the Central Paris Train Station and can’t speak English?” I answered with my voice trembling from anger and despair, and heard the final verdict: “Française!”

Next was nothing unusual, just a foreigner standing in the middle of the train station crying like a baby being unable to find the exit and not knowing what to do. “Your wish is my command”, went through my mind which I recognized to be the quote from the famous movie called “The Secret”. “Remember, we attract what we think about. If you think about your own pettiness, the Universe will send you circumstances and people that will make you believe it’s true, thus, making you feel even more anxious, spiteful and helpless. Change your thinking instead”, I heard in my mind.

OMG, is that my Guarding Angel speaking? Whoever it was, I felt that was the only way out of the situation. I closed my eyes and created an intention “The Unformed Substance, I thank you for the lesson you sent me, I accept it with gratitude. But now, can you help me, please?”

As I opened my eyes, I saw a note saying “Information Desk” pointing to the second floor of the building. I rushed there in hoping to find an English speaking assistant. Luckily, the assistant was a guy who could speak English. With my eyes wet from crying and mascara running down my cheeks, I started explaining that I lost my ticket and can’t get out of the building. “Did you really lose your ticket?” he asked. “Of course I did, how else would I be able to get here?” “Ok, I’ll open the gate for you. I’m not supposed to do that, so, you’d better slip through fast”. “Okay, okay, I will! Thank you!” I said. He opened the gate, and I finally got out of that building.

“Thank you, God!” I said with a smile on my face, and as I opened the smallest back pocket of my backpack, I felt something small cut my finger. As I took it out, I saw my boarding pass. The Universe really has the most ironic yet effective ways to teach you lessons.