I’m Lucky. Are you?
Tue, Jul 6, 2010
With only thirteen more shopping days left till my birthday approaching Ive recently spent some time reflecting on the past year.
And, after examining those three hundred & sixty some days, Ive come to the not-so-mind-blowing conclusion I am extraordinarily lucky.
Beyond.
While Im grateful for all I have (so much so I tend to ask Ren Man if I tell him/our daughter *too* frequently. Im a believer in ‘if you feel it—share it!’) Im also aware behind every lucky individual there usually exists an unseen crapload (technical term) of work.
Today’s post is neither for bragging about the aforementioned work I may (or may not) have done—nor is it to ask you to recognize me for my accomplishments.
Today I merely wanted to share with you some of my MizMuzings on the creation of kismet.
I believe, as with many seemingly random occurrences in life, we can all exercise (pun intended) a modicum of control and attract more windfalls into our worlds.
It seems to me lucky people tend to listen to their intuition/gut more frequently.
I cant tell you the number of successful people Ive interviewed who, when asked *how* they knew a certain choice was the right one, cited listening to their gut as the best predictor of a good life-decision.
I’ve learned the hard way (by ignoring) that frequently my first thought, my gut-reaction, is indeed the best one and the one with which I should go.
I’m dedicating my forty-first year to learning how to better trust my intuition & inner voice.
Lucky people also appear to have the ability to rebound & faith in their ability to turn around ‘bad’ situations.
I can definitely say for every “success” Ive had (on blog & off) there are 2394820948 attempts which crashed & burned.
Many of you whose email or phone numbers I possess have heard more than you care to about aforementioned crashing & burnings.
All the folks I know whom Id define as “lucky” are fearless when it comes to shaking up their routines & taking risks.
While Im pretty good with risk taking— it goes without saying the routine-piece is an arena in which I definitely need work.
Especially since the Tornado entered the scene. I love my routine. Kids thrive on routine. You do the proverbial math.
All the lucky people Ive known, read about or interviewed expect the positive. They appear to decide how a situation is going to ‘turn out’ & not waiver from their mental image.
Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not this one can never hurt. I strive to employ it in everything from my vision board to the way I speak (Im filled with health versus Crap the whole family is sick. I hope I dont get sick, too.)
So there you have it.
Four ways I believe we can all create more luck in our lives.
I know the popular quote is Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
I’ve come to the conclusion, however, for me luck is what happens when an individual sees an opportunity & is ready, willing, and able to embrace or transform it through hard work, tenacity, & a thick slathering of misfitness outside the box thinking.
Which all leads me back to my initial question:
I’m lucky. Are you?
Please to hit us all up in the comments.
Tags: law of attraction, luck, optimism
and 
Great post, Miz.
I need to think about it more as Id not thought about the correlation between luck and willingness to take risks.
, you make a good point.
I have a sister who seems to always be lucky while I am less so and, as always
I am not sure I agree in the sense of gut or intuition.
I loved in your last podcast where you talked about mindful eating and trusting yourslef.
I am not there with the eating so I am definitely not there with trusting my gut yet in other areas.
Yes…:-)
OK
You have convinced me.
Today I am craeting a vision board.
I am blessed and lucky to have food on the table and a roof over my head. With the 4th just past, I think we are all so lucky to be able to celebrate freedom and life
I so agree! The mind is a powerful thing, and seeing something in your mind can help manifest it. I learned that back in grade 6, when my music teacher used to tell me, “If you want to hit a certain note, visualize it in your mind, hear it in your heart…then open your mouth and CREATE IT with your voice!”
I create my own truth, or luck…whatever you want to call it…everyday. By the ideas I have, the direction I choose to go in and the choices I make.
I am lucky everyday. I am in great health, I make it a point to laugh every day…there are many people in my life that I Love…
so my life isn’t perfect…but it’s perfect for me!
Love this too.
When I was younger I looked at those I perceived as luckier than I and resented them.
With age has come the realization of all you said above we attract so much of our “luck.”
Luck I’ve never been sure of. I know I am blessed.
I agree, although I wouldn’t have thought to call it luck. I think we have a lot more choice in our life than we think. Oh, many things are uncontrollable, but our response to those situations and how we choose to view it are completely under our control. If we choose to be “lucky”, that mindset attracts more positivity and we just keep getting luckier and luckier. The more risks I take, the more opportunities there are for me. And it’s not so much risk, as letting go and seeing what the universe brings.
Your crunchy-granola thought for the day. Great job, Miz.
I don’t comment often but I always read and this is why.
I like that you aren’t just a fitness blog but a whole person mindy body and spirit blog.
Generally speaking, I agree.
But then there are those certain days when attitude and preparation don’t seem to matter, and everything turns to Crap. (Or Gold, on those very, very lucky days.)
My first thought after reading was to disagree (some days I feel I do all of the above to no avail).
I’ve changed my mind and am choosing to be lucky today.
Hope it works
This post really made me think. Because I don’t think I do most of these things. What I love about your notion, is that it really is all about us creating our own luck - or our own opportunity, or reality, or vision - or whatever we want to call it. That is powerful and makes us responsible for our lives.
Uh oh MizFit.
I think you might get a backlash on this one LOL
I agree yet my BFF frequently tells me things like ‘i was born under the wrong star’ and is convinced bad luck is not a changeable thing.
I am sending her to you today.
Good luck
Oh and I agree with Meredith.
As a former anorexic I like knowing that it won’t be weightloss every day here.
This reminds me of the genius quote by Thomas Jefferson:
I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
Smart man, huh?
I love that quote Tracey.
Hadn’t heard it before.
I am lucky when my mind, body, and spirit are in alignment…and then anything is possible!
I think I’d have to count myself as lucky. I feel there are many good things in my life right now. I don’t know if I helped to attract those things or not, but I’m thankful for them, that’s for sure.
Miz, you always write such great post… and way too many thinking posts!
The statement below has me thinking..
luck is what happens when an individual sees an opportunity & is ready, willing, and able to embrace or transform it through hard work, tenacity, & a thick slathering of misfitness outside the box thinking.
You know, my dad did that & I am not sure many times if it was a good thing in the long term… meaning luck really was not derived…. I think this is where some of my probs stem from…. he tried a few times & it just was not a lucky outcome so I saw this & it has held me back beyond the fact that he tried…. but what scares me is each time, with all hs trying & good heart he had for all, it came back to bite him…
Still thinking about this.
As always you have caused me to think.
I hadn’t thought about the connection between rebounding from failure and being lucky.
I can be easily derailed.
Another mind-provoking post.
I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure.
But I think luck - and how you explained it (tenacity, willingness to take risks, ability to pick yourself up) also has a large correlation with sense of self and confidence.
yesyesyes!
I was wondering if people would/will disagree with this post because I thought the same thing upon rereading it.
If, as with the mindful eating mentioned above, you (the great and royal and APPRECIATED you) would insist that till theres confidence there often isnt the “luck” as Ive defined it.
Nope…I don’t feel like one of the lucky ones…I think all good that comes my way seems to be hard fought at times. I have a difficult time seeing the positive outcome. I know there are universal powers of positive attraction and I’m doing my best every day to get to that side of the ledger. It is a long process.
Every single time in my life when something hasn’t worked out quite right or gone completely wrong I shouldn’t have been surprised. Because leading up to whatever disaster has just happened, my gut tried to tell me. I’m not talking about forces of nature or acts of God here, I’m talking about me making a decision that goes bad. Most of the time I now listen. Very carefully. And I don’t ever regret that.
I agree with the quote about luck being the meeting of preparation and opportunity. All of the hard work, the courage, and fearlessness, the risk-taking - that’s the preparation, so when the opportunity comes along, whenever that may be, you’re ready for it because you’ve already put the work in!
What Kyle said is my experience too.
I don’t think hard fought = tenacity but that could just be semantics.
I will admit I view you as lucky and hadn’t considered the work behind the luck.
I am SO very lucky!! For all of the reasons you state…and because I believe I am…and because I know you
Oh, and about the law of attraction? It’s working whether you (the general “you”) believe it or not…
It depends on how you define lucky….If lucky means “blessed” then YES. If lucky means “a winner” then YES. If lucky means I get whatever I want…then NO…but then again…if I got everything I wanted when I wanted it then I would see my blessings!
Yep, I’m very lucky. And one of the ways I’m lucky is to have found you and your blog, Miz. You present such great perspectives and reminders about living well. Thanks for being a positive, insightful risk taker!
I agree. I need to add a bit more “fearlessness” to my life. I mean, I don’t live in fear but I need to take more chances.
Interesting thoughts. I consider myself lucky. So many things that could have ended up a disaster in my life (mental illness, unplanned pregnancy) have turned out to be some of the greatest blessings.
COULD NOT AGREE MORE on the intuition. The decisions I’m most happy with in life were based on intuition like getting engaged (in 3 months) to my soulmate over 11 years ago. My husband also quit his job and went freelance a few years ago based on a “vision” I had for us. Five years later we make our own schedules (for the most part) and have more personal satisfaction than ever.
You know when I over think things is when I tend to make poor decisions.
I totally think we make our own luck- just like you described here. I think you have to be ready and open to opportunities that present themselves and sometimes shelf the fear of failure and just go for it. I feel lucky that I am a confident enough person TO trust my gut
Great post!
I need to agree with Meredith’s comment above.
I hadn’t even realized it but its nice knowing that every day isn’t all about the size of our collectice asses.
Lucky? I’m not. So far in this life anyway.
yep, I’m lucky. Life was passing me by because I was too busy complaining and feeling sorry for myself about what I “wasn’t” so I decided to make my own luck! Chance and opportunity surround us each and every day, but not everyone is up to trying. Many are scared to even try to fail. To me, trying something and failing is the same as success. But, when one chooses to not even try….well.
I’ve noticed the same thing with the lucky peeps. They tend to find positives in everything. That’s a pretty solid way of approaching life. I think though that we label them lucky sometimes because they have more (due to their go-gettum attitudes), while we lack sometimes and focus on missed opportunties.
I think a lot of it is simply our mindset and how we choose to view circumstances.
I am unbelievably lucky, but recognize that its what you do with your “luck” that matters. If you don’t work your “luck”, it quickly evaporates. I also think most of what we see as “luck” in other people is really their hard work, which is why being jealous doesn’t get you anywhere.
How much do I love when he comments…
I found myself nodding through all your points. In the instances where I’ve been successful, I have used these skills, and when I’ve failed I haven’t used them. It’s as simple as that.
Love this Miz. Another push in the direction I need to go in. I am reading a book where she says that the way you develop a better sense of self is to ‘do the tough stuff.’ The more you do, the better you will think/feel about yourself. It makes sense to me.
I’ve taken a baby step in the direction I think I should go in. Now to do the big tough stuff!
Great Post. I totally believe in the Law of Attraction. We are balls of energy so it stands to reason like energy attracts like energy. I also believe that faith and hope play into it as well. I see people create their luck everyday.
Great way to start my morning.
I think risk-taking is a huge component to being “lucky”. Sometimes a person is just in the right place at the right time, but some people spend a lot of time, effort and energy getting to the “right place”. My guess is that even the luckiest of individuals has had their fair share of setbacks and failures, but they keep at it, keep taking chances, and when their ship does come in, those setbacks and failures are quickly forgotten.
Oh yes. So very lucky. Life is beautiful.
I choose to put blinders on and not see certain negative things swirling around me…sure, I could focus on appliances that need replacing, a house that needs work, a job that SUCKS THE BIG ONE…but mostly I go to my happy place and all of that goes into soft focus, and I work on things that me, myself and I have control over.
I am very, very lucky in the important things of life (love, health, family). Not so lucky in other areas, but the big areas really negate any of the other things and help me to appreciate what I have.
Oh, yeah.
Lucky or determined? I dunno. The truest lucky folks, I suppose, are the ones who recognize their blessings/gifts and think to be grateful for them.
Yes, I’ve been quite lucky!!! My gratitude is continuous and never ending. Sure there are difficult times, but I have a get out of whiner jail free card, I think
PS Never saw the Ren Man in a suit and tie before..Nice!!
I AM lucky! I believe luck has a lot to do with a positive attitude, personal pro-activity, and willingness to change, and you’ve explained it well here.
Happy almost birthday! I think we might share it (unless my math is off - I’m the worst CPA ever) - I’m a 7/19 baby!
Yep. I’m lucky. I make it that way if it turns out I’m not.
This will make you laugh, Miz: I was pondering about your post today while in the restroom, and thinking to myself, “As Miz would say, ‘Hell to the YEAH!’ I’ve been really lucky!” And then realized I’d forgotten to do a TP check before I entered. #luckFAIL
(though LUCKily there was an alternative option available.)
My answer would be similar to that of Jules - Big Girl Bombshell’s. I’ve been very blessed, and I’ve even had some completely random luck happen. That said, many things that at the time seemed like the worst luck-and have me reeling with fear and anxiety and doubt-have worked out to be most fortunate catalysts for important changes in my life. I think that’s when the “hard work” part kicks in.
Luck comes with extreme focus and belief. Luck is the driving force of anything good that happens. We can’t do this on our own can we. It just seems to all come together if we are lucky enough.
I am indeed! No matter my circumstances, there have always been great things that happen to me exactly when I need them to happen. Coincidence? I think not. Thank you Universe!
You make me laugh with the names you use when you make comments. I don’t know how you do it and I always wonder who these new people are…and then I am thrilled to find out they are my favourite tutu wearin’, Tornado lovin’ mama!
Cool about the gluten free Playdough. Who thinks of these things??? Wonderful stuff!!!
Love it, and I agree. I definitely feel that I am blessed and that everything in my life has happened in preparation for the next best thing which is ALWAYS better than I expected. But I also agree that you must prepare and be focused and BELIEVE and expect the best and trust your instinct absolutely. I read recently a phrase that I keep reminding myself- “there is a difference between being a risk-taker and taking calculated risks”. Brilliant. And I’m all over it.
HIGHEST PRAISE FROM ME EVER
You make me want to be a better person, Miz.
I am not one of the lucky ones no matter how happy I try to be.
I still believe that some of us are just more fortunate than others even when we work hard.
What a nice change from weight loss fat loss I want to be skinny
Some days the blog world is too much for me with regards to that and I’m happy to say I am lucky.
No matter my weight.
Very insightful post mizFit. I feel not lucky - but blessed this day.
To me luck has the connotation of just stumbling into things. Like, wow, they’re just lucky.
I’m blessed. Fo shizzle.
Love your definition of luck. Sincerely, I think we make our own good luck, or in some cases, bad luck. Preparation, commitment and motivation are key factors. Now that I think of it, is there really such thing as luck, or are happy endings just the product of much intense work?
I am incredibly lucky. I love your definition! I’m a big believer in following your gut. I’ve seen in my own life, time and again, when I follow my gut I win in the end. Most of my regrets stem from those times when I ignored my intuition and didn’t trust myself.
I am sooo frackin’ lucky! And part of my luckiness is surrounding myself with people like da Miz.
I’m not sure it’s luck but very careful planning, and listening to my gut, USUALLY get me what I want. We create our own luck, right? When I don’t plan I am not as successful or “lucky”
I am lucky and thank you for the reminder!! this post was soooo what I needed today that I linked back in my post today cause I’ve just been having some tough times, but seriously I am lucky and it’s a lot more fun to focus on that!
Me and Zliten feel like we’re luckypants mcsmileys lately. My promotion, his new job, finances are in order, we’re super healthy, I’m constantly training for a race of some sort, we have a great group of friends and family around us, social lives, and enjoy every moment of every day and our biggest wish is more time to do more cool stuff that we enjoy and not cut into the healthy 8 hours of sleep routine we’ve establish. And the biggest thing? I’m finally, for the first time in my life, pretty proud of where I’m at. Not just looking toward the future and thinking I’ll be happy in a year when I do BLAH or in 5 years when I’m BLAH, but NOW. I am happy with me and us NOW.
Dang, that is lucky isn’t it. Glad to be on the luck train with you.
And in case being a fancypants producer lady makes me be away from reading blogs for another 2 weeks… HAPPY EARLY BIRFDAY!!!
hi evry body iam amel and i think iam not lucky
i’ve lotof friends but i feel iam olone
i feel a bit confused about my life