Fortune Filled

Our lives are filled with references to fortune. The popular game show Wheel of Fortune, of course. The infamous rainbow and the pot of gold at the end, guarded by a Leprechaun. We have our dreams of fame and fortune.

When I was younger we used to play a game with fortune cookies at oriental restaurants. Perhaps you played it too. You would read your fortune out loud to everyone and then add the words “..in bed!” to the end. So “You will have great unexpected good luck” became “You will have great unexpected good luck IN BED.” Silly, but fun and funny, especially at the age when anything having to do with sex was funny. It did, however, have a way of shaping perspective.

The Dictionary has two definitions of fortune; one is

“a large amount of money or assets”

but the other is

“chance or luck as an arbitrary force in human events”

We often rely on the latter to give us the former. In other words, we often rely on chance or luck to give us our fortune.

I am reminded of the story of the man who spends him time praying every day to win the lottery.

“Please just let me win the lottery! I won’t ask for anything else!“

Every week he wouldn’t win and every week he would pray. He became more frustrated as time went on and finally in exasperation he prayed again,

“I have prayed and prayed to win the lottery. Why won’t you let me win the lottery?“

Then a voice boomed out,

“Meet me halfway – buy a ticket!“

Two sayings stick in my mind about fortune that I think says everything you need to know. The first is from Cervantes

Diligence is the Mother of Good Fortune

and the other is that

Fortune Favors the Bold

Here’s some tips to help you reach your fortune:

DON’T RELY ON FORTUNE OR LUCK – Reject the second definition of fortune. Don’t live by chance. Don’t allow the course of human events to determine when you will get your fortune or what kind of fortune you will have.
DEFINE WHAT YOUR FORTUNE IS – for some it is a whole lot of money but it can something else for others. When I counsel people I will ask them what one of their business goals are and they almost always answer “make more money!” So, $1 more is good? You need to define how much is more. What do you want to accomplish? There is fortune to be found in many things rather than just money.
KNOW HOW TO GET THERE – Define the path to reach your fortune.
DAILY DILIGENCE – Working daily to move closer to your goals or your fortune. Keep doing positive things to move closer to your goals every day.

It’s not that these things will make the wheel spin in your favor; it’s that you will discover you don’t need the wheel!

What do YOU think?