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Am I lucky? You bet!
Q: I get so angry when people tell me how lucky I am. Don't
they realize how hard I'm working? I try to stay away from
people who believe you have to be lucky to live your dream.
A: Yes, I know the feeling. When I took a year off to play,
when I moved to New Mexico, when I took a special trip, people
said, "You are so lucky."
And I answered, with a happy smile, "Yes, I am."
True, I've been "working" seven days a week for
most of the last twenty years. People get emails time-stamped
five AM sometimes.
I once heard a successful mystery writer tell a group how
many hours she spent plotting each book, with cards all over
her living room and piles of notes on the table.
It's work, she said, and added, "And I am so lucky that
I have this work to do." That's how I feel.
There's always some element of luck in our lives: being healthy,
living in a free country, not serving time for someone else's
crime, having education appropriate to our goals, having persistence
and determination to save money for our dreams, having motivation
to go forward when the going gets rough, having the innate
sense to call for help when we need it -- and a whole lot
more.
Sure, we work hard for what we get. And what we get is...
well, lucky!
So I'd hear those comments as "Congratulations! I admire
you!" Hug those people (metaphorically) and say, "Thank
you for reminding me. I love my life."
You can add,
"And I think most of us can reach our dreams if we want
to."
Refer them to a book, a coach, a counselor or even a movie.
You won't have to avoid them anymore. They'll either go out
of your life ("too much joy") or cheer you up every
time they say, "Boy, are you lucky!"
| Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D. is an author, career coach, and
speaker. She works with mid-career professionals who want to make a fast
move to career freedom. Visit her site http://www.movinglady.com
or call 505-534-4294. |
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