Let’s Talk… How Lucky Are You?
"Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when lack of preparation meets reality.”
~ Eliyahu Goldratt
“ You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it.”
~ Jimmy Dean
I love leggings. They are comfortable and can be quite fashionable. No, this isn’t my fashion blog post, but it does stem from the PRINT on my leggings. This is the outfit I wore to church this past Sunday and it sparked a short conversation in which a lady saw me and said “Oh, I love your leggings. You must be feeling pretty LUCKY today.” Lucky? I guess. I mean YES, I do consider myself lucky in many ways, it’s just not what I was thinking when I chose to wear them. I was just sporting my “March…..Irish….St. Patrick’s Day” comfortable leggings with the GREEN plaid scarf to emphasize the silent celebration of my HERITAGE as a Scott-Irish.
But that word LUCKY really hit me like a baseball bat to the head. I just keep thinking about it over and over. Am I lucky in the sense of winning things? Absolutely not. Am I lucky in my current life circumstances? DEFINITELY. I have a loving husband, wonderful children and grandchildren, a daughter-in-law who is an amazing mother, siblings that are always there for me, good friends. But have I been handed the GOLDEN ticket in life? No way. My husband and I came from what we thought was nothing and have worked HARD for what we have. Yet, lucky isn’t something I would consider anyone who has had to bury a child as I have. But still, I do consider myself LUCKY for what I do have. I was visiting someone this week that really hit that home for me. It was the home of a mother trying her hardest to PROVIDE for her children. It was an old home, around 100 years old. The walls were made of plywood. The heat came from what looked like an old metal trash can that served as a furnace. The furniture…..well there was some. A sheet seemed to serve as a wall or door. It was a very HUMBLING experience.
I chose TWO quotes to use for this blog because they both have a great take on what luck is.
According to Eliyahu Goldrat, “Good luck is when opportunity meets preparation, while bad luck is when lack of preparation meets reality.” I think this is a great point. When you really PREPARE for something and then an opportunity arises, you might consider yourself lucky, but isn’t it really just being prepared for what happens instead of not working hard at something or preparing for something and all of a sudden reality comes and smacks you upside the head?
According to Jimmy Dean, “You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it.” How often do we really consider ourselves lucky? People tend to go around doing LIFE without even thinking about how lucky they are for what they have.
Let’s take a test:
Do you have a roof over your head?
Do you have a bed to sleep in?
Have you had something to eat today?
Do you have clean clothes to wear?
Do you have heat when it's cold and air conditioning when it's hot out?
Have you had a conversation with anyone today? (pets count)
Do you have running water?
Do you have a car or any means of transportation?
How did you score? There are people in our world, in our communities, maybe even our neighbors who can’t say yes to very many of these. Think about the HOMELESS. The REAL homeless. They’re the ones making due with what they have and not trying to hustle anybody for help.
Are you LUCKY? It’s not about our possessions, it’s not about our standing in the community. It’s about being THANKFUL for what we have. Being GRATEFUL and APPRECIATIVE.
Dear friends, take time to EXAMINE your life. I don’t believe in LUCK, I believe in working hard for what you want and appreciating what you have. I believe in helping those who really need help.
What are your thoughts?
I leave you with an Irish Blessing:
