how to get lucky.

In my feature writing class, we read this article by Ben Sherwood (in Oprah Magazine, Feb 2009) titled:

“How to Get Lucky”

The article begins in essay format, describing how this woman ended up meeting her husband at the dry cleaners, randomly.

Or was it?

The article discusses chance events, what some may describe as a random event.

Are the people who turn chance into an opportunity, such as meeting a potential business contact on an airplane, just lucky?

“Luck is not a magical ability or gift from the gods,” Richard Wiseman writes in The Luck Factor. He insists that we have far more control over the element — and outcome — of chance in our lives than we realize. “In fact, he argues that only 10 percent of life is truly random. The remaining 90 percent is “actually defined by the way you think.”

That is one of my favorite quotes because it places 90 percent of the responsibility into your own hands. You choose how to react. You choose your attitude. You choose your path. You choose to succeed. Obviously, you counsel with the Lord and ask Him for guidance, but it is your responsibility to be open to change and foster an attitude that can define your life.

“Lucky people create, notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their lives,” Wiseman said. “If luck means being in the right place at the right time, being in the right place at the right time is actually all about being in the right state of mind.”



Here are some insights to being in the right state of mind.

[Give chance a chance]
Go grocery shopping somewhere else, walk a different way to class or if you’re me, actually walk somewhere without headphones in.

[Relax]
I am one of those people who tends to get a) anxious, b) stressed and c) preoccupied, which means I’m not really noticing those moments of opportunity.

“A laid-back attitude can lead to all sorts of possibilities, but you have to be ready to go with the flow.”

[Build your network of luck]
“Remember that you are surrounded by opportunities.”



One source in the article describes the way I sometimes feel:

She used to think it was “inefficient to invest in people you were never going to see again.” If your paths are never going to recross, why bother?

And that’s one reason why I tend to be on the phone as I’m shopping or on my computer on the airplane (besides the fact that’s usually the only time I have time to do those). Essentially, I’m closing myself off to experience those chance opportunities.

But, people are opportunities. The gift is in the interaction and the connection with another person, whether it lasts forever or not.

And who knows — you might just get lucky :)