Making Our Own Luck

There are times it feels like everything is going our way and times it feels there is a rain cloud following us around making everything slippery and dangerous.

What is the difference? What in our perception says, “I’m feeling lucky right now!”

In the sweet animated movie Luck, a young woman who has experienced “bad” luck her whole life, realizes that the experience of bad luck has actually caused her to adapt and learn. She is a survivor. She had to learn how to live as a person who stumbles and breaks things, but in the process she has become someone who is really nimble and capable because of it!

What kind of power lies in our perception to change our luck? How can we view the bad luck in a way that it doesn’t knock our feet out from under us, but makes us more sure footed in the end?

The other realization she has in the film, is good luck doesn’t exist without bad luck. They are two halves of a coin. Yes it is a magic coin and yes, you need both!

In our relationships, we can experience good luck and bad luck. Sometimes one partner or friend is on a lucky streak and the other is not. Sometimes it is happening to both at the same time. When we are both in the unlucky phase, it can feel overwhelming because the person we lean on most in these situations is also hurting.

How do we cope?

It isn’t about looking at what feels bad as good, but rather seeing the lesson and then remembering the path forward. Acknowledging, Feeling, Moving Through, and Surviving the bad, and growing more hearty, more sturdy in the process.

There is a joyous defiance in seeing a challenging situation, a bad luck streak, and deciding to use it to fuel the next steps of your journey.

Make Your Own Luck!

Acknowledge the Moment with Compassion:  You are feeling unlucky. You are feeling put upon. Denying those feelings will only make them grow. Acknowledging the challenging feelings and moments lets your Neocortex catch up to your Reptilian Brain. Your body is in Bad Luck survival mode, your mind must work to bring the situation to consciousness, and handle your response.  “Bad luck” is happening… what are we going to do about it? 

Take Small Steps: What do we do on a slippery floor? Small decisive steps. James Clear writes in Atomic Habits: “The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.” Making the decision to focus on what is good for you, what creates positive change in your life, and taking small actions in that direction can help move you into a more hopeful space.

Give Yourself a Chance to See the Luck:  Balance your luck by bringing lucky things to mind. Our brains can be trained to see the good! Challenge yourself to look for spring flowers, the first bee of warmer weather, a penny on the ground, a kind deed from someone.  We need a balance of good and bad luck, so if you are mired in the bad, you can get that balance with intention. Looking for the good luck, means you are going to find that pot of gold. 

Generate the Luck:  Thoughtfulness can change someone else’s luck.  Kind words, holding a door, checking in on a friend, hugging your partner, those little moments add up and might just be the thing that balances someone else’s luck ☘️

How are you making your own you luck this week?