Good morning to you and happy Monday. I know many people dislike it when people say happy Friday or thank God it’s Friday or happy Monday, but that is what comes into my mind every single Monday morning. I’ve always loved Mondays. For me, Mondays set the tone for the whole week. I’m always extraordinarily focused because I try not to have commitments on Sunday night. My friends, Lisa and Fritz, often invite me to dinner on Sunday nights. I’m so lucky and I love them for it. But they also know that I often say no because I so value my Sunday rituals, and going to bed early.
What’s on my mind today is luck. There are a couple things I want to say, but first and foremost I want to thank my mother who used to call me Lucky Connie. Somehow her words permeated my thoughts and my views of myself, and I think of myself as a lucky person. I’m really grateful for that.
Anyway, as it pertains to luck, one thing that used to bother me a lot when I was growing up – and even as an adult – is people would say to me you’re so lucky. It was often about something that I had worked very hard to create for myself. I think the first time I started hearing that was when I went to Europe during college. I did a semester abroad and people used to say you’re so lucky, but I had worked really hard to make that happen. Growing up, when I wanted something, my father tell me how much he would pay for whatever it was and how much I had to pay. I couldn’t believe it the very first time I asked him if I could go to summer camp. I was probably 12 or 13, and I remember saying Dad, I want to go to camp and he said, well, let’s find out how much it costs. That signaled to me a possible yes.
If I remember correctly, the cost was something like 350. He said to me I’ll pay 250, and I remember saying to him, wait you mean I can go? And he said well, yes, if you can earn the 150 – I can’t remember the number, but basically whatever the difference was. That is something that instilled in me from a very young age that anything was possible. The same thing happened when I was in college and wanted to go to Europe. We made a deal as to how much I was to contribute and how much my parents would contribute.
Anyway, fast forward to today. A lot of people are saying to me again you’re so lucky and yes, come on, in so many ways I’m a privileged person and. I busted my chops and made important choices and decisions to get me where I am today, right? So as it pertains to this life experiment I’m in the middle of right now, there are many things you can say about it. It’s a privilege that I don’t have children. It’s a privilege that I can dedicate my savings to this. It’s a privilege that I don’t have a day job that prevents me from this sort of thing. But in my mind, it’s not luck. Luck denotes something that happens to you or happens for you.
And honestly, in my heart of hearts, I think a lot of the luck in life is about the choices and decisions you make for yourself. The power of choice is one of the greatest privileges we have in our lives. So there you have it.
You know I love my quotes. One of them is not deciding is deciding , and the other thing I say is choose, choose again. I’ll leave you with that for now. Until next time, from my heart to yours.
