The Secret to Finding Luck in Challenging Times

Authors note:

This piece is adapted from a post I wrote in late 2021. This was after a tough year of loss in my family, which I still grieve today. I hope it brings you warmth and a luck, especially on hard days.

What does it mean to be lucky?

Is it…

The luck of having someone so wonderful in your life that it hurts to lose them?

The luck of having the chance to say goodbye?

The luck of them having one more week, day, or year with their loved one?

The luck of having a child in a year that brought so much pain?

The luck of health and access to resources if I need them?

The list could go on and on...

I’ve always wondered about luck

I thought it was out of reach…or something that I wasn’t fortunate enough to have

The mystery of luck has followed me for most of my life

I’ve had this fortuitous talent for finding four-leaf clovers for as long as I can remember. 

While walking down the street, mowing the lawn, or even momentarily standing somewhere, I’d look down and find one, two…sometimes many four-leaf clovers.

However,  despite the pages upon pages of clovers I’ve pressed over the years, I never felt like luck was finding me. 

Everyone would say, “Well, you must be so lucky!”

I would smile and acknowledge the thought, but I wondered where the illusive “luck” was going. 

And then, something happened and luck found me in one of my darkest seasons.

Over the past few months...I’ve started to realize…

It’s not that I’m not lucky but that my perspective was skewed. 

While on a walk this week...a walk I’ve made a dozen times, I found SIX, four-leaf clovers within one hour. 

This day and this walk were particularly hard…

Earlier in the day,  I had seen one of my family members for what I knew would be the last time. 

Instead of accepting the idea that I wasn’t lucky…this moment made me realize I’d been lucky all along but hadn’t seen it. 

Luck doesn’t mean you’re excused from losing loved ones. 

Luck doesn’t mean you won’t feel pain or hurt or encounter tough times. 

But luck can make you appreciate what you have, and what you have been given.

It won’t stop the bad days. 

But on the worst days, you’ll realize all the small lucky things that were there all along. 

I hope you notice those things today, whether you’re in a tough place or not.

I hope you see those things before reaching your bad days and worst nights.

I hope you know that even in these trying times when you’re allowed to be sad, luck is still there, albeit a small silver lining; it has been there all along. 

Next time you’re feeling unlucky, remember this little secret. 

Look around and notice the little things.

I promise you, even on the most challenging days, there is something lucky you can look back on and smile

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