How Did I Get So Lucky?

I read an article the other day that talked about the perception of luck. The theory goes something like this; a person who believes they are lucky, sees good fortune in situations that may otherwise be ordinary, thereby manifesting luck in their lives. People who believe they are unlucky see the difficulties in their lives as a sign of misfortune and feel as though they are being picked on by the universe. You know those people, right?

This is a hard-wired tendency, they say. You're either a glass half-full kind of person or a glass half-empty type. So, I've been thinking about how all my life, I've just sort of felt like I've had good fortune. Things just seem to work out for me somehow. Is this a result of my manifesting the positive things and choosing to disregard the negative (I've certianly had my share of heart-ache)? I'm a huge believer in Karma--the idea that whatever you put out in the universe comes back three-fold. It may sound new-agey, but I swear by this principle, and I've seen it in action--in my own life and others'.

Today, I feel lucky (well, yesterday, too). I was thinking about all of the things that seem to work out and how fortunate I am to have a little felicity in each day. Good fortune and luck isn't about the amount of lottery wins you rack up, or the things that fall into your lap. I've decided that it's about appreciating exactly where you are and what you have in that moment--about being present and learning to love a life that you've crafted. It's about seeing the beauty in change and having hope in the face of sorrow. A little bounce-back karma doesn't hurt, either.

Structure & Pork and Beans

Not that those things have anything in common--well, at least not to anyone other than me. It's just that I get so caught up in the pattern that is my life, when some odd wrench hurls itself into my day, I can't help but just laugh at the strangeness of it. So, I'm shopping on my usual day, at my usual store... buying my usual things (I'm serious when I say that I am very regimented, by the way). As I drive home in the rain, I notice how bright the lights look under that layer of rain water. It's a nostalgia thing--listening to Candlebox, watching the lights and thinking about how nice it'll be to open the windows and listen to the rain when I get home. I live in my own head most days and at a usual pace, I unloading my grocery stash. Guess what I find that just yanks me out of my internal world? This can of pork and beans. Did I put a can of pork and beans in my grocery cart? NO! I don't buy or eat the stuff--NO! How did it end up there? I'm thinking of a zillion scenarios here. Some two-year old stuffed it in my cart, mistaking it for his Mom's and thinking it looked pretty enough to be delicious. Maybe some teenage kid thought it would be a funny joke--because I looked like I needed to lighten up a bit. Either way, it made me smile and I'm still chuckling at the randomness of finding it in my grocery bag next to the hummus (must be a bean thing). If anyone can think of how this can wound up in my grocery bag, I'd sure like to know, but for now, I'll just hold on to it. This is how weird my life is.

Why do I get myself into these things in the first place?

I keep thinking to myself, "hey, I'm a writer for hell's sake... I should probably be blogging." It's just that the daily task list I carry around seems long enough already and social media requires just that: be social! Truth is, I'm kind of a hermit and being abundantly social isn't really my thing. But then I got to thinking... at the very least, my blog could be a great forum for my random rants, right? And that's something that I DO have in abundance. So, here goes. My first post (which is entirely random).

For good measure, and the viewing pleasure of an empty room (hopefully that will change), I'm going to throw up one of my favorite pics from a recent trip to Key West, where I experienced amazing sights, genuinely good people and outstanding service. The palm reader's shop was closed--I probably would have gone in if it hadn't been. It's not that I believe in that stuff, really, but I'm open to feedback on my life at the moment and at the very least, it might have been amusing.

Until later, people... and hopefully once I get the training wheels off, these rants will make interesting reads.