Intentions, Hard Work, and Luck

My son often says, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."Since that phrase popped into my head early this morning, Itook it as my inspiration for the week and got to thinkingabout luck.

What is luck? Is it good fortune that comes out of the blue,totally unexpected? Or is it the Universe sending what we’vesignaled we desire? I think the latter. My son’s phrasedoesn’t mean that just working intensely brings goodfortune. It means that working intently, with passion,toward desired end results will bring those results to us.

The key word is passion. It is the depth of our emotionabout our desires, and our ability to visualize the result,that sends the strongest signal to the Universe--the signalmost likely to trigger the events some would call luck. Buthow do you create the passion? Passion comes naturally andeffortlessly when your intentions align with and complementwho you really are.

For example, if you are a creative, imaginative, andspontaneous person, it is not likely that you will generatepassion around a job which is detail oriented and routine.If you happen to be in this job, and hold a goal ofexcelling at that job, you will likely find that luck avoidsyou no matter how hard you work. Oh, you may do OK at thiswork, but it is unlikely that you will see what some wouldcall good luck in the job. In fact, bad luck may seem tofollow you, sabotaging your career at every turn. You see,the Universe knows who you are at your core, and sends youwhat is right for you, even if it seems to oppose what youthink you desire.

So it is extremely important that you understand yourself--the real you. Not the you constructed by others based ontheir views of success, but the you at your core—the youthat calls in your dreams. You know who that is, even whileyou try to hide from it. You have glimpses of who you reallyare--and these glimpses thrill you. Perhaps your mind isused to taking over at this point, frightening you with allthe reasons you can’t be that person your soul is callingfor. If that’s where your thoughts take you--to a paralyzingfear--think again. Think another thought!

If your favorite saying is, "If it weren’t for bad luck I’dhave no luck at all," spend some time in quiet meditationreflecting on who you really are. Consider where yourpassions lie. Recall your periods of great excitement,energy, and joy. During those times you are being who youreally are. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live every day thatway? And wouldn’t it be great to have luck on your side? Itcan be.