The Secret to Making Our Own Luck

This is an important post about luck and also an update of Flower's story.  If you recall from the previous post, Flower was a young Maine Coon cat abandoned by her family and living on the streets of a neighborhood for 2-1/2 months.  We went all out to find Flower a home.  I posted to this blog; we put a listing on Craigslist; I networked with friends and colleagues; I asked them to network with their contacts.

Nothing.

No one wanted this amazing cat, the most resilient animal I had ever encountered.  After considerable neglect and never really having a home, she retained a wonderfully trusting, loving personality.  How could no one want her??

With reluctance, Margie and I obtained some gates for doorways and decided to try, somehow, to integrate Flower with our very frightened cat who had freaked out on first seeing Flower.  We figured putting the cats on the opposite side of gates could allow them to see each other and interact with one another safely.

The gates never went up, however.  That day, a call came from a military family that had just been stationed at Fort Dix.  They were *very* excited about the listing for Flower.  They had had a Maine Coon cat for years who had bonded nicely with their youngest son.  The cat died and the boy missed her.  What better Christmas present than a new friend for the family?

The picture above is of Flower in her new home.  She has many people loving her and doting on her.  She has her forever home.  She even has a new name:  Princess Jersey Fluffbottom!

An observer might conclude that Flower is a lucky cat.  What are the odds that she could find a family specifically wanting a long-haired cat who is no longer a kitten?  As the recent article observes, however, luck is no accident.  There are specific things we can do to make ourselves more lucky.  If we place ourselves in front of opportunity in smart ways and do it over and over again, we become more likely to get that phone call and make that one special connection.  

The very important takeaway from the article is that luck occurs when we respond to adversity with creative effort.  That's how we get past drawdowns; that's how we stumble upon market observations that others fail to see; and that's how we find our forever future.  Having been turned down so often, the lucky one is the one who knocks on one more door.

Of course our Fort Dix family is lucky as well.  They had looked for a new cat for a while before finding their perfect match.  Happy endings are possible when we refuse to accept life's inevitable unhappy times.

Further Reading:  Making Our Own Luck
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