The Art of Being Lucky

It seems like we’re always waiting, doesn’t it? Waiting for someone or something to tell us the right thing to do or some kind of poetic sign from the cosmos that lets us know we’re making the right decision.

Maybe it’s a shooting star, maybe it’s a mysterious stranger who lifts us up right when we feel like giving up, just some kind of little clue that whispers to us, “Yes, you’re on the right path”.

Because isn’t that what we all wish for? Just a tiny confirmation that’ll tell us it’ll all work out? After all, no one likes uncertainty. So naturally, we try to grasp for something, anything concrete to give us an answer.  But just like in real life, no one likes to coddle you, not even the universe. 

I’ll be the first to admit, I absolutely love a good sign. I look forward to fortune cookies as an integral part of the Chinese takeout experience. 

But it wasn't always that way. For years, I had a sort of fortune cookie curse. Everyone around me would get fortunes about success, opportunity, and adventure while I always got a statement. "You are a kind person." Thanks, I guess, but when was it going to be my turn to receive a life-changing prophecy at the bottom of a brown paper bag? 

Then one day, after finishing an impressive amount of General Tso noodles, I was laughing explaining my curse on a date, and they stopped me before I opened mine and said, "Wait, switch with me. It’ll be different this time"

I shrugged, not convinced.

"A wave of romance will come rushing towards you," mine read.

First of all, very romantic. And secondly, just like that, the curse was broken.

Of course, it also made me realize something: there was never any curse to begin with. The outcome changed because someone reached across the table and decided to change it.

It’s like the famous saying “fortune favours the brave”. Notice it doesn’t say “fortune favours the person who sits timidly in the corner asking for reassurance”. Or “fortune favours the person who keeps making excuses as to why it didn’t work out”. But there is an emphasis on being brave, on being bold.

So just how much of fortune is really just our own design? Our ability to create those “signs” ourselves or better yet, not need them at all? Could it be that what we consider to be signs or luck are just our way of comforting ourselves into thinking it's all dependent on something bigger than us-instead admitting that we need to take responsibility for the things we want to do?

The thing about asking for permission is that you open the opportunity to be told no. So don't ask, just do.

The funny thing about fortune cookies is that they're always vague enough to apply to almost anything. "A new opportunity is on the horizon"."A pleasant surprise awaits you". Depending on the day you’re having, those could mean literally anything. But maybe that's because the answer was never really inside the cookie.

Maybe we're all hoping for certainty when what we actually need is courage.

So create your own luck. Next time you get takeout, ask for double the amount of fortune cookies. If you don't like the answer, switch with the person next to you. Wish on an airplane instead of a shooting star, or whatever B.O.B said.

Because the only permission you really need is your own.

-M