"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them. They make the impossible happen."
- Dr. Robert Jarvik
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"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them. They make the impossible happen." - Dr. Robert Jarvik
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Get Involved
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August 28, 2008 | |||||||
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 Creating Your Own Luck Jules Selman, Vashon Island, WA February 15, 2001 Risk-taking -- call it the stuff of life. But it isn't always about bungee jumping or ill-advised investing. What happens when it's just about doing something different, getting out of a rut, creating luck? Here's a GoodLetter that says risk may not be a matter of life or death, but it can clearly change our ways of seeing. Contribute to the reader conversation on taking risks and creating your own luck. Fellow goodletter readers, I was in my junior year, completing an exchange program at the University of Oregon. During this time, I was taking some chances in my education. Having completed all of the required courses for my degree, I vowed to spend this time taking classes out of sheer intellectual curiosity. Sociology interested me, but in my haste to grab English and math courses, I hadn't even explored it. It had always seemed vague and impossible to me, and I didn't know how one could study something that big, that open-ended. Still, I was curious, and combined with my interest in world religions, the course "Sociology of Religion" fairly leaped out of the catalog at me. At the time, the University of Oregon had "arena style" registration. Everyone went at specified times to a huge auditorium and ran around, standing in line and signing up for courses. It seemed chaotic and frankly unfair, but having no choice, I joined the fray. I was driven by the simple question: what courses did I really want to take? I kept coming back to that sociology course. When I explained at the department desk that I wanted to take a graduate-level Sociology of Religion course but didn't even have Sociology 101, they pointed me in the direction of the professor who was right there, watching his own class fill. We talked for three minutes, he deduced that I was interested and able to read and write, and he added me to his roster of students. "That's why people are better than computers!" he sweepingly declared. The course went well. 40 upper-level and graduate sociology students -- and me. It was engaging and wonderful. But alas, I was late turning in the final paper. I had worked all night to finish it up, and it was a bit rough. I was wondering if I would pass. The professor and I met at his office, and I handed it in. We talked. We chatted. We reminisced about the term and how great the class had been. I don't even remember how I did on the paper. What I do remember is his parting comment. "I would wish you luck," he said, "but I don't think you'll need it." His simple acknowledgment of luck affected me. I became energized by what I'd done to generate it. I remember that exchange with the professor because his comment seemed to sum up so much of what I had learned. Indeed, my "luck" had been part of a script that I had written. The first scene was putting myself in the right place. The second was noticing opportunities in new situations and exploring them. And surely, being active and involved had been an underlying theme. Stopping to appreciate and process these thoughts and experiences created an enthusiasm in me that made me feel so alive. How have you created luck in your life? What are those times when events seemed to happen so well and with such good results that your life seemed choreographed? Welcoming more "luck," creating a "yes" in your life, not waiting for it, can really make all the difference in the world. Jules Selman (write to Jules) A few of Jules' favorite goodthings: Reflected sunsets off Mt. Rainier; guacamole with lots of lemon juice in it; Signing Exact English with my nephew; snuggling; sleepy dogs who cuddle in bed; knitting while my love reads aloud to me; walking in the woods; Alaska, even in the winter. . . . Readers Respond Want to share your thoughts or ideas with other people who care about goodthings? Send 'em our way. |
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