In June 2000, I was assigned to a month-long system implementation project in San Antonio, TX. I’d just separated from my first husband and was about to move from Boston, MA, to New York City for a new job. 

I flew in and out of San Antonio throughout that month, and although I don’t remember the exact details, I do recall that there was an issue with the tickets. Every weekend, I went to the airport with dread, expecting annoyance and challenge. 

One of these weekends was my birthday, which I had planned to celebrate with my friends in New York. As usual, I handed the printed tickets to the airline agent. As usual, they could not find me on their lists. As usual, I had to insist on taking the flight, and I eventually got in. 

As soon as I got to Chicago for my layover, all outgoing flights were canceled due to a storm. As I stood in line to speak with the airline agents, I was on the phone with my friends, trying to find a solution. I didn’t want to spend my birthday in a city where I didn’t know anyone! 

I had met my friends only a year before this event, and they were the type of people who always got an unexpected upgrade to business on their flights. 

It was clear to me that their optimistic approach had something to do with their luck, and I wanted to adopt it wholeheartedly. But life had been hard on me. I felt that, unlike my friends, I was just unlucky. 

On the other side of the line, my friends were encouraging me to believe that somehow things would work out. I wanted to believe it, but I would be lying if I said that I did. 

When I finally spoke with a representative, he informed me that my flight had been canceled, and I could only get a seat on the next day’s flight. I could not stop my tears from dropping on the useless crumbled boarding passes. I took out my ID and showed it as proof that it was indeed my birthday.

The agent looked at my ID and then at me, and with a dissatisfied sigh, went to speak with another agent. A few moments later, another agent occupied the workstation in front of me. Without saying a word, she typed and typed and typed until she said, ‘Your flight is actually going out now!’ Run quickly, you might still be able to catch it! 

I know it sounds unbelievable, but I’m not making this up. 

I ran like never before in my life, my heavy carry-on almost flying behind me. My skinny as a needle and out-of-shape body gave it everything it got. Breathless, I arrived at the gate just before it closed. 

There was a lot of commotion on board, but my seat was peacefully waiting for me. When the airplane finally soared, I thought that I was not so unlucky after all. 

This was a turning point in my life when I finally started to notice that things were actually working well for me. 

I can’t blame myself for feeling unlucky back then. But I also know that, despite all the hardship I went through, life was also throwing me gifts that I was unable to accept because I held on to the perception that I was unlucky. 

And it was not really that I was unlucky – I did not allow myself to be lucky. Since I experienced much loss at a young age, I was too afraid that if I accepted these gifts, they would be taken away from me. I therefore preferred to push them away altogether.

It took me many years to let go of the fear and allow joy and love to enter my life. Only then did my luck change. And the more I perceived myself as lucky, the more optimistic I got, and the more fortunate I became. 

If you believe that you are unlucky in one or more aspects of life, this belief might indeed make you unlucky. 

But you can’t just say, ‘I believe I am lucky,’ and alter your honest beliefs. It does not work this way. You can take note of what you genuinely believe in, and be aware of how it affects you – just admitting that you feel unlucky in itself can be a game-changer! 

You can tell yourself that, honestly, you feel unlucky in love, or career, or money, or health, or friends, or in life in general. Hold your hands to your heart with compassion and love, as I am sure there is a good reason why you feel this way. 

Then look at your life’s circumstances and notice – does life give you gifts that you push away? Is there a part of you that rejects joy because you are afraid to lose it? In this case, know that becoming aware of the fear that holds you back from good luck can make a huge difference. 

I hope it helped. I’d love to hear from you,

Happy Full Moon,

With love,

Yael