Lost Something? Don’t Rummage Hastily—Gen Sun’s First Line (初九) of Decrease Hexagram Advises This First Right Step

This is exactly what the first line of the Decrease Hexagram in the *I Ching (Book of Changes)* spells out so clearly.

Have you ever had one of those moments—

You head out the door and realize you can’t find your keys,

or your wallet’s gone, or you left your phone somewhere,

and you panic instantly,

rummaging everywhere, tearing the place apart,

dumping out drawers, moving the sofa,

flipping the whole bed upside down,

turning your house into a total mess,

only to not find what you’re looking for, and lose other stuff in the process.

In the end, you either find it in some random nook or cranny,

or it’s really gone for good,

and you still have to clean up the mess for ages.

Looking for lost things—

it’s not a huge deal, but it’s not trivial either,

and almost everyone has dealt with it.

With the right method, you find it in minutes;

with the wrong approach, you rummage for hours for nothing.

That’s exactly what the first line of the Decrease Hexagram in the *I Ching* is about.

The Line Text (Yao Ci) says: 已事遄往，无咎，酌损之。

What does that mean?

“Yi shi” (已事) means the matter has just happened, it’s just occurred;

“chuan wang” (遄往) means go quickly, hurry up, act right away.

“已事遄往” — the second you notice something’s lost, go look for it right away. Don’t hesitate, don’t put it off.

“无咎 (No blame)” — there’s nothing wrong with doing this, it won’t cause big problems.

“酌损之” — take a measured approach, search with restraint, don’t go wild rummaging, don’t tear everything apart recklessly.

Putting it all together:

When something’s lost, look for it right away, don’t delay,

but search methodically and with restraint, don’t act recklessly.

Why the faster you look, the better

The number one rule for finding lost things is speed.

Why is faster better?

Three reasons.

First, the clues are still fresh.

Right after you lose something,

you remember clearly

where you last used it, where you put it, what places you passed through—

the clues are still warm.

Follow them, and you’ll find it quickly.

Wait too long, and you can’t remember clearly anymore;

the clues go cold, and it gets way harder to find.

Second, the item hasn’t gone far.

Something you just lost

is still right where you left it, or nearby.

No one’s picked it up yet, it hasn’t been moved,

it hasn’t been thrown out as trash.

Wait a few days,

and someone might have taken it, it might have been cleaned up, thrown away—

then it’s really gone.

Third, your memory is sharp.

Right after losing something,

you remember its location, its state, the context you used it in really clearly,

so your recall is accurate.

Wait too long, and your memory gets fuzzy;

you start guessing blindly, the more you guess the more wrong you get, and the further off your search goes.

So when you notice something’s lost,

go look for it immediately.

Don’t wait, don’t delay, don’t count on luck.

A lot of people like to say—

“Forget it, I’ll stop looking. Maybe it’ll turn up on its own someday.”

Most of the time, it won’t turn up on its own;

it’ll just get harder and harder to find.

酌损之 — Search with a method

Why do so many people search and search and never find what they’re looking for?

Because they’re searching randomly—

they look wherever pops into their head, rummage wherever they happen to be,

dump everything out,

the more they rummage the messier it gets, the more frustrated they get,

and in the end, not only do they not find the original thing,

they lose other stuff too.

“酌损之” means—

take a measured approach, have restraint, have a method, have a system,

don’t just flail around.

How do you search for something systematically?

Three steps.

Step one: recall first, act later.

Don’t dive right into rummaging.

Sit down first and think carefully.

When was the last time you used it? Where did you use it?

Where did you put it after? What places did you go after that?

Map out your route,

list out the possible locations,

then go look.

Sharpening your axe doesn’t delay your woodcutting—

spending two minutes thinking it through

is way better than diving straight into random rummaging.

Step two: search area by area.

Don’t bounce back and forth between places.

Search one area at a time.

Finish one area, confirm it’s not there, then move to the next.

Don’t keep rummaging through the same spot over and over, wasting time.

The worst thing about looking for things is wandering around aimlessly—

you look super busy, but you actually find nothing.

Step three: go from near to far, from common spots to obscure ones.

Check the most likely places first, the spots you usually put things,

then the next most likely, and finally the less likely corners last.

Chances are it’s somewhere you usually put it,

you just didn’t look carefully.

So many people search far and wide

only to find it in their own pocket, on the table, in the most obvious spot.

How to get back something you lost

Step one: search fast.

The second you notice it’s gone, look for it right away.

Don’t wait, don’t delay, don’t count on luck.

The earlier you look, the clearer the clues,

the closer the item is, and the higher the chance you’ll get it back.

Step two: search smart.

Don’t rummage blindly, don’t search randomly.

Recall first, then search area by area, go from near to far.

With the right method, you get twice the result with half the effort;

with the wrong method, the more you rummage the messier it gets.

Step three: do a post-mortem.

If you find it, think about it—

why did you lose it? Did you put it somewhere random? Was it bad memory?

Or was the spot you put it just wrong?

Learn the lesson so you don’t lose it again later.

If you don’t find it, do a post-mortem too—

is it really lost, or did you just forget where you put it?

How can you avoid this in the future?

Take a fall and gain a wit—don’t let the loss be for nothing.

A final word

Looking for lost things—

it’s simple if you think it’s simple,

and hard if you think it’s hard.

The hard part is—

you panic, you get messy, you rummage blindly, and the more you rummage the less you find.

The simple part is—

as long as you’re fast enough and your method is right,

chances are you’ll get it back.

“已事遄往，无咎” —

go look quickly, there’s nothing wrong with that, and chances are you’ll find it;

“酌损之” —

search with a method, don’t act recklessly.

So next time you lose something,

don’t rush to rummage right away.

Sit down first and think carefully—

where did you last use it?

Think it through before you look.

Remember the reminder from the first line of the Decrease Hexagram: the earlier you look for something lost, the higher the chance you’ll get it back. Procrastination only makes the loss worse.

The wisdom of this first line of the Decrease Hexagram, put plainly, is: when things are tough, choosing the right direction matters more than pushing through blindly.

Fast and accurate.