Luck?

Last week 20/20 did a show on Luck. They had many interesting insights. I especially liked the study that showed that optimistic people were more likely to find the $20 bill on the street than pessimistic people. I related the story to my son in NYC this morning.

He has been having a difficult time with money lately. Anything that could go wrong has, it seems. He had a windfall... an unexpected check arrived when he could really use it! Great, right? Well it would have been, but then it got lost in the mail between Michigan and NYC. The windfall turned into a huge source of aggravation for him.

I told him he should try to visualize things going right. Or seeing himself happy, at least. With all his negativity he was headed for a heart attack before he was thirty!

His check finally turned up, but the post office in Harlem was less than helpful. The local customer service rep in Michigan helped us verify that the letter was in the NY PO. So David stood his ground and insisted that the reluctant clerk, check for it. They found it and he was thrilled.

Then he went to his bank and they told him it would take 4 days to clear. He looked up the bank the check originated from and walked three miles to go there and get it cashed.

As he was walking back he called me and said he was feeling better... that he thought about it and realized that he is living his dream... he is in NYC... doing what he's always wanted to do... and what could be better than that?! As he was walking and talking to me he looked down for some reason and saw something on the ground... it was green... you guessed it... $20 lying on the sidewalk, no one else around... he picked it up. He said he considered it a sign. I do too!

There is nothing wrong with being optimistic! If I have to see a glass half empty or half full, I'll pick half full every time! While the volume of liquid remains the same, the volume of my happiness and the quality of my life is greater as an optimist... and that (as they say in the Mastercard commercials)... is PRICELESS!