6/26/2007

Feeling Lucky, Punk?

This afternoon, I opened a fortune cookie to find a message inside which read "Three days from now is your lucky day". Now I don't usually take stock in mass produced messages stuffed inside MSG laden treats manufactured in conditions I'd rather not know about, but this one struck me as being so definite, that I placed it in my wallet. I thought about the message, and even imagined what it meant by "lucky day". Would I win the lottery? Maybe I would finally sell my book? Who knows, but then it started me to think some more.
Some days on my way home, on the parkway in front of the Save-A-Lot, there is an older man sitting with a hand lettered cardboard sign, exclaiming how he's sick of being hungry and homeless. And I feel lucky, that I have a job, not necessarily the best paying job, and my boss sometimes can be a jerk (but then whose boss isn't?), but there are aspects of it I enjoy, and it keeps me from being that man. It makes me appreciate the things that I have, which is not much, but then I really don't desire a whole lot anymore, as material things don't matter to me like they used to.
I put the fortune in my wallet between two pictures of my sons. Everyday I think of them, I feel lucky. I may not get to see them as much as I would like, but Im know of other fathers who rarely see their children, so I feel lucky. Then there are the fathers who don't want anything to do with their children, and that makes me feel lucky that I care about mine.
A couple of years ago, I began to take stock of my life, and I realized that it wasn't about accumulating things. There was a time when I thought I was perfect, but then I gave up drugs and realized I was far from it. So I began to try to improve myself, not physically (although, admittedly, I could stand to get in better shape and lose a few pounds)but spiritually. I took an assessment of what was really important, as opposed to what I thought was important, and came upon the conclusion that we all could lose the things we value the most, so it's best just to enjoy what you have while you still have it. The best way to change the world is to change ourselves.
I know sometimes I sit here and gripe and complain about the way the country is headed, but I feel lucky that I can still do that. So I try not to get mired in the negative, because things can always get worse, better to appreciate what I have. So, to parphrase Ed Grimley, everyday is my luckiest of lucky days.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear you, Lew. This is the Lew I care so much about, and why.

Mary said...

I just stumbled in here and what a gem of a post. Great thought and so true.

Unknown said...

Lew, this personal post was awesome, it really hit home with me. thank you for posting it.

Catmoves said...

Very moving, very appropriate. Thank you.

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Blank said...

Good post, Lews. In the interest of not getting mired in the negative, did you know you're supposed to add the words "in bed" to all fortune cookie fortunes? So, what yours was trying to tell you is "Three days from now is your lucky day in bed."

Lynn@ZelleBlog said...

Whats going on with all these deletes?

No Blood for Hubris said...

Fine post.

Jaggu said...

I observed your age as 251 in your profile. Is it true??...ha ha...just kidding. Anyways good post..

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