Bad Luck – Good Luck – Who Knows?
“There is nothing either good or bad,but thinking makes it so.”
William Shakespeare
I boarded the plane, and as I walked down the aisle to find my new seat I had to laugh. A few days earlier I had looked at the status of my flight to make sure everything was on track. The seat that I always select on all my flights, the one I have paid extra money to make sure I have, the one that I believe guarantees my flight happiness – was given away. The original smaller plane was changed to a much bigger plane a few days before my flight to the east coast and my precious 7F – the one that normally has more legroom and you can put your stuff under the bulkhead, was given away and now I was re-seated to the back of the plane. I called the airline to see what I could do. The answer? Basically nothing except keep checking back to see if any other options would open up. So I did just that and a few days later wound up selecting an exit row which turned out to have tons of legroom and I was seated next to lovely seatmates. And my beloved 7F? When I saw it I just laughed. On this plane you couldn’t put your things under the seat in front and the person sitting in “my” seat looked miserable. It was the most cramped seat on the plane. This situation made me remember my favorite expression: “Bad luck, good luck, who knows?” (If you want to read the full story behind this expression: Bad Luck, Good Luck. Who Knows?
One of the main principals of Buddhism is that when we attach, cling onto and won’t let go – that is what causes ou
r suffering. I am finding that when I allow myself to feel whatever first emotion comes up about a situation – then breathe into it, let it go, and be open to the idea that maybe, just maybe something better might come from the situation – it opens up a world of possibilities.
r suffering. I am finding that when I allow myself to feel whatever first emotion comes up about a situation – then breathe into it, let it go, and be open to the idea that maybe, just maybe something better might come from the situation – it opens up a world of possibilities.We all have stories in our lives of a path that we were on that made an unexpected turn, which led us to a totally different place that was so much better. Or how getting dumped by the love of your life allowed you to meet the person who really was the person you were supposed to be with. I know for me, I could still be singing “Evergreen” and “Feelings” at bar mitzvahs and weddings had I not accepted a one-time singing gig at a New Thought church that changed the entire direction of my career and life.
One of my favorite stories illustrating this principal is about a man who was standing in line at a 7-11 to buy a lottery ticket. Right before he got to the sales clerk he temporarily stepped out of line to get some candy – in that moment someone cut in line in front of him to buy a lottery ticket. At first he was a bit peeved but, in the spirit of “bad luck, good luck, who knows,” he let it go and bought his ticket. You know where this is going – he wound up purchasing the $29 million dollar lottery winning ticket!
So the question I have for you is what is something that might not be working so well in your life that could actually be leading you on another path that could be more meaningful? Just something to think about….
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