Minkgirl Muses

Gratitude Project
Day 13 – Luck

I’m grateful for good luck. I’ve always been mildly superstitious/spiritual, but only in an optimistic sense. In other words, I look for good omens but ignore the bad ones! And there are always lots of ways one can view one’s luck as good – in fact, good luck is really just another name for the expression of gratitude.

But I am also aware of luck as a cosmic force – one that gives some people more hardship to deal with than others. Many religions have a version of “there but for the grace of G-d, go I”, that quintessential reminder of the thin line that separates the fortunate from the unfortunate. When I think about my own luck, I tend to think of cross-roads events that I either experienced or avoided, which have deeply affected the course of my life. Here is a short-list of good luck I have experienced in my life:

• I was born to two educated and mostly healthy parents
• I have never experienced a serious illness or injury
• I had no pregnancies prior to the two intended ones
• I have always found a job (eventually) when I needed one
• I have a partner who is engaged and committed to our family
• Whenever I lose touch with a friend, another one comes into my life
• Both my parents are alive and know their grandchildren

When I was a little girl, I attended Sunday school, where we learned about poverty in Africa. I often wondered why I had been born in a particular time and place with so many resources, and why there were other children who were living very different and extremely more difficult lives. I still wonder all the time about this question as an adult. “Unto whom much is given, much is expected.” I don’t know why I have experienced all this good luck in my life. I am trying to be grateful for what I have. But as I shift into the 2nd half of my life, I am also trying to wake up to what this luck is asking – expecting – of me.

Photo: by KagedFish

Labels: Gratitude Project