“You are a lucky bastard!” exclaimed my friend when I got a job at an international school in Bali. Even more so, when I traveled to Papua and the U.S. for free as all expenses were paid by my American friend. My friend kept wondering why I was so lucky. Honestly, the term ‘a lucky person’ for me seems glamorous as I am used to be dubbed as a jinx.
My friend’s curiosity about my being lucky made me wonder: Am I am lucky? Or do I just look lucky because I work hard? A lot of friends work as hard as me, but they are not as lucky – at least they don’t feel they are. I have been looking for the answer for quite some time, and I think I might be approaching it now.
I am lucky because I think I am. Things happen that could be good or bad or both or either. Lately, I have been looking for the good. I try to see the positive of every situation. Pursuing the positive potential leads to more opportunities. I see more lucky breaks because that is what I am expecting to find. Let me elaborate what I am talking about.
Back when I was a kid through high school, a time when I didn’t have many exciting stories to tell, it never popped in my head that I was a lucky person, not even a slight bit. Part of it was probably because of the environment I was raised in. In my village, it was expected to be ‘humble’ by telling how poor I was or my belongings were. For instance, if somebody complimented how fat my cow was (fat cows were considered good because it was worth more money), I suppose to say something like ‘oh I just fed them with a lot of green grass, they are not as fat as you think and they are very picky about their food”. If a mother complimented my little brother for being so cute, I would say that he was a bit naughty or annoying in response.
It was often common to start a conversation with a complaint. The Balinese idiom of ‘keweh alih-alihan’ (hard life) stuck in my mind as I heard over and over again in most conversations in the village. I constantly joked about the phrase with my sister. Once, my mother began her small talk when a neighbor came over by saying that life was getting hard, all local prices raised while money was hard to make. My neighbor supported my mother by uttering a lot of religious ceremonies were coming and how they would afford them.
Just to clarify, I am not looking for a scapegoat here. It is just a cultural thing, and there is nothing wrong with it. Whether I misperceive this idea of being ‘humble’ and a good village conversationalist or this culture shapes me into less-grateful person, I am not totally sure. All I know is that my being a whiny and an unthankful guy affected my life in a bad way.
I recalled a few unlucky things happened to me, some of which are very embarrassing to share. These accidents occurred one after another as I kept thinking that I was miserable and unlucky. I attracted these misfortunes without even realizing it. I fell from a push bike that tore my part of body which left me with a few stiches scar. I accidently hit my cousin with a stick when we played a war game. He got a few stitches from the hit that left me with blame from my relatives and a feeling of gilt. I got off from a running truck in hopes to imitate a professional truck driver’s assistant. I failed and knocked my body to the asphalt road. I then pretended to faint in order not to get scolded. So stupid! :D. I was even once dubbed as a jinx by a group of friends when we play sport games as the team I joined always lost.
Moving to Denpasar is a real life change experience for me. Life was more optimistic as I did better and better at the university. I think the tipping point was when a good friend of mine named me ‘a smart boy’. The term that has never existed in my school-life dictionary as I have always been a very average student if not below the bar line. My friend’s words really encouraged me to work hard academically and be a better person.
I followed some motivational speakers on Facebook and read their posts every day. They kept me motivated, and I began to understand how my mindset could affect my life massively. I then found a book [eafl id=”186″ name=”The Secret by Rhonda Byne” text=”“The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne,”] which very much solved the being-lucky mystery. In the book, it is mentioned that a thought has frequency; the more you think about a thing, the more likely it will happen. This concept was defined as “Law of Attraction”.
As I started applying this concept, fortunes began to come to my life. I was one of the top 5 students among 600 graduates in 2012, an accomplishment that meant lot to me. I then got a job at a prestigious school in Bali with a decent salary. And yes, I got to travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the U.S. for free. Most importantly, I feel my life is much more fulfilling, exciting and full of promises.
I strongly believe that Law of Attraction works. All my fortunate things that happen to me might involve hard work, coincidence, and other things. However, one thing for sure is that I won’t be where I am now without the right mindset. I invite you to try it for yourself and see what can happen for you.