an electron is not a thing, it is something that happens under the right conditions. just like everything else.
the best physical understanding of the universe that we have at the present moment says that all properties of all objects are entirely dependent on ... all properties of all objects. so the idea that an object is distinct doesn't make sense. consider: how large is an atom? quantum mechanics tells us that the wave functions of the atom's constituent particles extend throughout the entire universe, which means that every atom is the size of the entire universe.
additionally, our understanding of the nervous system tells us that the only information we get about the world comes from the firing of all of our nerve cells - discrete events that happen or do not happen. because our understanding of reality is nothing more than than a lossy compression of all sensations humans have ever experienced, if you see reality as being the sum total of all human experience, it's fair to say that it's a stream of events, in which our minds are going for a swim.
We create the whole of our reality (the sum of our existance).
An electron is a thing. Start with that to build your definition. If you think 'thing' has strange and wondrous properties then get to that separately.
an electron is not a thing, it is something that happens under the right conditions. just like every_thing_ else.