Weekly Inspiration

Are You Lucky?

For the last decade or so, I have always had my own opinion of what I think luck really is.  My motto has always been, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”. 

Sadly, I hear people complain all the time about how unlucky they are and how it seems like other people they know just always seem to be so “lucky”. 

From observing over the years, I’ve noticed that most “lucky” people are very good at recognizing opportunities when they see them.  In addition, they usually know what they want and have prepared for it in some way (the degree of preparation varies, of course).   Therefore, it may seem like things just happen for them automatically and they’re just lucky, but that is hardly ever the case.  

Some of you may be reading this saying, “This can’t be true.  I prepare and prepare, and work my butt off but I never get what I want!”  Well, remember what I said about recognizing opportunities?  A lot of people know exactly what they want in life and spend their whole lives working toward their goals, yet they never achieve their goals.  This is largely because many opportunities have come their way but they unfortunately were not aware.  Please do not assume that there are no opportunities coming your way. Opportunities come all the time you just need to be able to recognize them and know that sometimes they are hidden or may not look like it on the surface (because things just couldn’t be easy, of course!).

If you feel like opportunities never come your way, I have a few suggestions to help you change your outlook.  My first suggestion is to immediately STOP thinking that opportunities never come your way!  If you constantly tell yourself this, then you’re already setting yourself up for failure.  You’re not going to actively look for something (opportunities) that you don’t believe will ever come.  My next suggestion is to start paying very close attention to everything that happens in your life (every new person you meet, new information you receive, articles you read, things that randomly catch your attention, etc.).   A lot of times you are coming across these things or people for a reason.  God uses many different ways to get through to us and you never know when he’s at work!

In addition to not recognizing opportunities, there are also some people who let fear get in their way.   They may very well recognize an opportunity but never act on it because of their fear (I’ve struggled with this one in the past!).  Getting over fear, whether it is fear of failure or fear of success, can be difficult but it can definitely be done.  (I did it!)

Fear is just basically a lack of faith.  Once you realize that nothing “just happens” and that everything happens for a reason, it will be a lot easier to get over your fears.  You will know that there is no need to fear the disappointment of trying something and failing, and there is no need to fear the drastic life changes that come with success.  Once you have complete faith, you will know that what happens in your life (good or bad), happens for a reason and it is the journey you must take to reach your goals.

I know this was a long post, but I hope reading this has motivated you. 

Now go and be LUCKY!