I knew a girl from university who was pretty lucky. From my point of view, she was definitely born with a golden horseshoe up her bum. She was tall, super skinny, and beautiful, all without trying. She ate hamburgers and chips and never gained weight. Her parents gave her trips, she had a nice car, she always had long, shimmery hair. And it was the perfect, white shade of blonde that I have always secretly wished I had.
I thought she was the luckiest girl alive.
I was reading an article today on eHow.com that said that being lucky isn't something to do with fate or superstition, but rather that being lucky was something you could kind of earn for yourself.
Apparently there are 3 ways to be lucky.
1. Pay attention to your surroundings. That way, when there is a twenty dollar bill on the ground, you notice it. (I agree with this one... about a year ago, it was a freezing cold day and I was walking to work... and I found a ten dollar bill! I was so excited! I bought a chocolate bar, a soda and some chips. I gave a bit of change to the homeless guy nearby. And then I still had a couple dollars for the next time I wanted something sweet. It was awesome!)
2. Smile and be happy. "When you are in the right state of mind, you will always be able to find the silver lining in any event. This will always make you feel like the luckiest person in the world.". My mom always used to to say 'Bloom where you are planted'. It's true. You can make any situation feel lucky when you are happy. I love this one.
3. Do nice things for others. It's the whole karma thing. What goes around comes around, and if you do kind things for others, good things come back to you.
Another article agreed with this last one, saying that luck is a skill you can learn. "Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people's ability to notice the unexpected. ...unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. Research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."
So if you follow these pointers, does this mean that you are going to hit it big in Lotto 649? No, probably not. But luck isn't all about the huge payout.
For me, I think I'm a pretty lucky person. I've never won a draw for anything. I've never gotten anything from the Safeway scratch-and-win contests. But I have an exceptionally happy life. I love my husband. I have the sweetest little dog in the world. My family is amazing. And doors are continually opened for me, helping me and Stephen get through any challenges that come up.
Luck? God? Fate? I know people call it many different things, but whatever you call it, I am grateful for it.
Until next time, good luck to you all! :)
"I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity." -Oprah Winfrey
No comments:
Post a Comment