Get Lucky - part 2

Beaded Shamrock Socks from Heartstrings

I have become fascinated with the idea of luck. The day I posted "Get Lucky," I had an appointment at a clinic - just something routine. I got a bit lost getting there, so I was running short of time. However, when I arrived I not only had to park the car,  but I had to pay up front for parking, estimating how long the appointment was going to be. Well, clinics are unpredictable and I could be in and out in half an hour or I could be stuck there for 3 hours - what to do? Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man in a car waving at me. I went over to him (you never know your luck) Well, here he was offering me an all day parking ticket.  He had finished early and could I use it? Could I? - you bet!

When I got back to work, I decided that I wanted to explore this idea of "learning how to be lucky" a little more. Here is what I found. Lucky people:

1. Maximize Chance Opportunities

Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing, and acting upon chance opportunities. They do this in various ways, which include building and maintaining a strong network, adopting a relaxed attitude to life, and being open to new experiences.

2. Listen to Their Lucky Hunches
Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings. They also take steps to actively boost their intuitive abilities -- for example, by meditating and clearing their mind of other thoughts.

3. Expect Good Fortune
Lucky people are certain that the future will be bright. Over time, that expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure and positively shapes their interactions with other people.

4. Turn Bad Luck Into Good
Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way. For example, they spontaneously imagine how things could have been worse, they don't dwell on the ill fortune, and they take control of the situation.

These points come from an article by Daniel H. Pink . It was written in 2003 - but it is still very relevant to-day. One of the points made in the article is to keep a diary for a month and just record the lucky things that happen to you in a day. By the end of the month, you should be a lot luckier.

Beaded Shamrock Wristlet from Heartstrings

So I am going to start here.  I will post my positive diary daily. You may post along with me or send me something lucky that happened to you this day. You can do it as a post or just send me an e-mail at the link above. I am starting with Sunday, January 9. This looks like a good day to start. It's cold but sunny outside. I went to the bank yesterday, so I have money in my pocket and the bank line didn't look as horrendous as I thought it would. I've cleaned the house, taken down the tree, so lets get started!

I need to knit one of those wristlets for my writing in my lucky diary!

Dinner? Here's a lucky recipe. Apparently in Italy, eating lentils is good luck!