I certainly feel lucky when I look around me, look at my life as it unfolds its daily trek to the unknown. I have a beautiful house on a beautiful piece of land, amazing neighbors, wonderful children, friends, a great dog and have made a career doing exactly what I want to do, painting. And very important: it’s not what I have, but how I feel. I feel lucky.
I was talking to a friend the other who said he didn’t believe in luck. It is just hard work that pays off. That you are what you are, that’s a given. What about being in the right place at the right time, or auspicious coincidence?
Let me tell you a little story about what I call luck: I think it was luck that found this piece of land over twenty-five years ago. I had made an offer on a different property on a different lake. But someone had a right of first refusal on it and took it. After that, I looked at the map of the area, picked this piece and walked through the woods by the brook to find it. It hadn’t been surveyed yet, had no road or facilities coming in. I was offered a chance to purchase a different property and exchange it for this one after it was surveyed. Four years later, this was mine. And still is. Maybe that wasn’t luck but I was taking a chance. Maybe it was or wasn’t luck that someone had the right of first refusal to the other property. But I know now that was not the right place for me. This is.
One thing I do feel strongly about is the power of the mind. Unfortunately, the mind is not always working in a straight line. I wish it did! But if I hadn’t believed in finding a good place to live, I might never have pursued this piece of land under such unusual circumstances. Before here, I moved every three years on average. If I didn’t believe I could make good artwork, I would never have kept going all those years when I produced only a few worthy pieces. Probably yes, it is mostly hard work that makes luck happen, but probably that luck could be as much as 25%, the rest effort and preparation.
More than feeling lucky, I feel grateful. Grateful to be where I am and to have the will to keep going.