Luck

Good or bad, everyone believes they have one or the other and some people strongly believe the mantra that you make your own! Personally I’ve always said that I have bad luck, but a few years back I met someone who told me that I should stop saying & believing that. She felt that attitude was what was causing the bad luck to follow me.

So I listened to her and whenever anything bad happened I resisted the urge to say, “I have the worst luck!” That was almost 5 years ago and while I’d like to say that my changed perception of luck has in turn changed the outcome of all situations since then, that’s sadly not the case.

Let’s discuss the most recent example. The morning started with a bright & early wakeup call at our hotel. There was a fire in the kitchen at 3:30 a.m. forcing all the guests to evacuate the building. Luckily we were already up & moving for our 4 a.m. departure.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time and boarded our plane. We found our seats located right behind two men, who were meeting for the first time & both baptist. Let’s be clear – I was raised in a Catholic family and have no problem with religion, but I’m also not interested in listening to an entire conversation about, “if you pray to God to find the Christians, he will!” Luckily my earbuds were readily available and able to drown out the early morning gospel.

With a tight connection to catch, we prayed (see what I did there) to depart on time. Just as we were set to lift off, a fellow passenger had a seizure, causing us to sit tight. Luckily there was an EMT on board and the man will be okay.

I’m currently mid-air on our way to Jamaica and I know most of you (especially those still battling the never-ending Midwest winter) will say, “well, that’s pretty damn lucky.” You are right, I am fortunate to be sitting here – happy & healthy, next to my loving husband, with our kids in the care of their generous grandparents.

The difference though is that it has nothing to do with luck. We’ve worked hard to be able to enjoy a vacation. Lucky things do happen to me and I will continue my pledge to not talk about bad luck, but more than that I like to focus on the bright-side!

Everything that has happened today could have been worse. The hotel could have burnt down, I could have forgot my headphones, the man could have experienced a more serious medical issue. We’ll likely catch our connecting flight & be sipping rum punch in a few short hours!

There’s always a bright side! That’s my mantra – things can always be worse and someone else is handling more. Things WILL work out & I know that for a matter of fact because the two gentleman just prayed for that mid-flight. If not, I’ll just drink more rum. Jamaican Me Crazy!