“I have the worst luck”, is a statement you always hear or even say yourself. Just about all of us are guilty. What we don’t say or hear is, “I am so lucky”.
You are running late for an appointment and decide to take a shortcut that crosses a railroad track. As you raced towards it, the control arms come down, effectively bringing your race to a halt and making you even later. “Drat it! This always happen to me!” What you are forgetting are the times when the arms came down just as you crossed over, blocking the unlucky cars behind you. You probably didn’t say, “Wow! I am so lucky!” did you? Of course not. Why not? Well maybe because we expect our lives to be like that, with everything going our way.
What I’m trying to say is that we always remember the hurt but not so much the pleasure. We remember the bad stuff that happens to us more than we remember the good stuff. How could you be the unluckiest person because you never win at lottery or you seem to always catch the red light or train when your best friend who already has diabetes, was recently diagnosed with cancer? I sometimes tell my friends that I have the worst luck or no luck at all because I never win prizes at events. What I am forgetting is that my mom and both my grandmothers are still alive and healthy. ( One turns 101 in a few months). Not too many people my age can say that.
Next time we encounter a small setback, maybe we should try to not be too quick to play the ‘woe is me’ card. We could perhaps remember a time when the perceived setback worked for us, like the train track example. And if you say you are the unluckiest person and I say the same thing, then who is this lucky person hoarding all the luck?
Just my take.
Related articles
- thinking yourself lucky (sageandsilver.com)
- The psychology of luck (mike10613.wordpress.com)
- The Luck Factor [Tina Fotherby] (ecademy.com)
My Vuze, My Takes 