Luck is all in how you look at it

I am 48 years old and I’ve often found myself looking back over my life. We all have done that, right? I look with hindsight (being the best sight-or so I’ve heard), to see how the pieces connect, to see what I’ve learned and how I can make better decisions in the future. When I do this, I often think of luck. We all think of luck as being a player in our lives, some may see it as a bit player, while others see it more as a principle character. We speak of luck as a force that seems to operate for good or ill in our lives. We hear things like “ the flu is going around, with my luck, I’ll probably be the one to get sick”, or on the more positive side, “she lucked into a great job”.

When I look at my life, I see my luck as more of a combination. I see myself as being lucky in unlucky circumstances. Did you ever feel that way? Luck may just be in how we choose to look at things. Are we unlucky for getting sick, or lucky for getting better? We may be both, but certain ones of us, choose to look at it either as good or bad. Better to choose to look at the good luck side, right?

I was 31 years old, it was August, our daughter was 4 months old, just two days previous, she had been given a clean bill of health. She had been born with a dislocated hip (not a serious condition if found early enough). It required that she be put in a soft cast for four months from the time she was born; this contraption besides making it difficult to bathe, dress and diaper her, made her look a bit like a trussed turkey, her legs were set in a bent position, spread far apart. So we were happy, and relieved to finally be able to release the ties that bound if you will. On that Sunday afterward it was abysmal out, it was rainy, gray, and I felt like we had been pent up all day. I kept saying to my husband “let’s just go out” “let’s get out of the apartment”, we’ve been stuck inside all day. He, not feeling the same claustrophobia as I, said “it’s raining, we can’t take the baby out in the rain”. I was determined though, “let’s just put the plastic cover over her, and go.” This plastic cover is something that nearly only first time parents engage in…my next child never saw a plastic cover. My husband was persuaded, but in all fairness, he didn’t stand a chance. I had my mind made up. Off we went into the drizzle.