I’m the first to admit I’ve hit a bit of a purple patch of late. After a particularly tough few months where I began to question every little thing about myself, suddenly the stars have aligned and I’ve been revelling in a never before seen cloudburst of blessings.
And so it leads people to comment on this run of luck, that I somehow just managed to randomly in the right place at the right time to be the benefactor of such blessings.
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| The lovely Nat (as mentioned) with my sister & I |
But my lovely friend Nat had a different perspective: “You have certainly created some good opportunities for yourself” she complimented me. Another friend Kylie offered “you’ve just set the right balls in motions these last few months” when I joked how I’d gone from zero to hero in the flash on an eye. It gave me pause, and you know what? I had to agree: it can’t alone have come down to just plain providence. The universe has had a big hand to play, as has being proactive.
I learned the value of this sort of positive behaviour last year, when my all-time celebrity Everest of crushes, Oprah, came to town. It was my most coveted life-long wish to attend one of her shows so I set about showing the universe why I was worthy of recipient of this dream come true experience. And it worked!
I also think sometimes luck comes along when you are really due a break. Like being presented with a dream opportunity to meet world acclaimed medium Deb Webber. I’d spent months beseeching the universe to give me a sign I was on the right track by trying to follow my dreams. This was the moment that set the winds of change in motion. I even said so out loud. And the universe listened as I thanked it.
I also like to think winning the recent Sealy Australia “Sleeping On The Job” competition was more than a mere fluke. Sure I was lucky the judges thought one of my entries was worthy of being shortlisted, but when it came to crunch time and I was required to vie for votes against other four equally worthy potential winners, I had to peel myself out of my comfort zone and literally start begging! Normally I’d be far too self conscious to do this but determinedly told myself pride be damned! 96 hours later after it consuming my life and I was so relieved to see my hard work (and result of being thrust out of my comfort zone) had paid off.
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We all face highs and lows in life. I’ve certainly experienced my fair share of each! But it was during a visit to a well known psychic earlier this year, that it was explained to me we each have pre-ordained periods in our life when it’s our perfect time to achieve and shine. I was in the midst of mine now and if I didn’t make the most of these divine opportunities, I’d have another 9 year cycle ahead before my pinnacle would return. It was the celestial kick up the butt I needed.
There has been no silver platter borne my way; each blessing has been earned some way or another. I’ve also felt the sting of rejection far too often this year as well, but not giving up has gained me some rewards.
It’s been a very timely lesson to me that those dark days I endured when I wondered whether it was worth all the angst to pursue these lofty dreams that surrendering and trusting the process can help more than you may know. That and reminding myself that what Oprah orates is true: “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity”.
Amen to that!
A friend of mine got so frustrated after her second baby was born, and she worked bloody hard to get her into a good routine. It paid off and she had a good sleeper and contented child. People would constantly tell her she was lucky, but she wasn’t. She had worked for it and it had been hard.
Interestingly, it was when at a wedding on a remote station that everyone congratulated her on doing a great job. Obviously the city and country people looked at things differently.
Hard work wins over luck. Every time.
I hear ya, thank god things have eased up. It was rough at the start of the year for us.
I love that your friend was able to articulate: “You have certainly created some good opportunities for yourself”
That is such lovely acknowledgement because I firmly believe we make our own “luck”!!
When I look back on the last 5 or 6 years I often catch myself thinking “oh gee we were lucky that happened” or “how great that we were in the right place at the right time for that to come together”.
But the reality is, we worked hard to create opportunities, and when they presented themselves, we jumped all over them!
I’m glad a heart felt comment provided some inspiration for your next blog, Don. Happy Days at Nappy Daze! Nat x
It’s not all luck baby, no way. You’ve proved that. Some of it is luck and being there at the right time, but a huge part of it and being there and working it and being open to the opportunities and making it happen. You have made it happen. In the best possible way for you and your family. Be proud lovely. xo
I’m also not a fan of the whole ‘luck’ theory. I don’t believe that things just happen. It’s like all those stories about someone being an ‘overnight success’, only to discover that there was 10 years of hard work leading up to their 5 minutes of ‘luck’.
I think that each of us has a purpose to our lives, but we need to step up and make an effort to achieve it. ‘Luck’ doesn’t just deposit wonderful success on our doorstep. Look at all those people who win the lottery and then end up broke – they had an opportunity and failed to make the most of it.
I know how hard you worked for the Sealy Sleep Ambassador position and I know that you are making choices to focus on things for the benefit of yourself and your family. Hard work, willingness to step out of your comfort zone, the tenacity to keep going when things don’t seem to be working out – that’s what brings success, not luck.
Go you! You have had lots of great things happen, but you know what? you articulated them and went after them. I’m a huge believer in creating vision boards and then working on ways to move it from abstract to concrete. And getting the concrete takes a whole lot of work. May your cloudburst continue xxxx
Oh Donna, luck had nothing to do with your recent successes . . . you have been working your tail off to show the world just how talented you are and the world is finally starting to take notice. You deserve each and every bit of great news that has come you way because you earned it, not because you were lucky.
Jenn
It’s your skills and passion that lead to your success, not luck. You deserved every bit of it, enjoy!
For many years in my younger life I just assumed things were more about “the stars aligning” but over time I’ve realised that you do need to out some effort into it. I’m only really just grasping that in very recent years to have a lot of catching up to do with my life. Focusing on luck allows us to stay lazy, or not face what’s holding us back instead of taking the responsibility to do something about it. What a great post.