Thinking Positive, one of my New Year's Resolutions

Luck.

You either believe in it or you don't.

If you have bad luck, hell, it's easy to believe because you live it everyday.

My sister and I had a running joke. We'd always say that our family, (The Madeup) (Respecting their privacy here...) have always had bad luck, and that maybe one of our ancestor did something horribly wrong in the past and was cursed.

Was there a Madeup who helped crucify Jesus upon the cross? Or maybe burned the wrong witch back in the Salem Witch Hunts? Had a Madeup done something so terrible that not only was he cursed but his children, their children, and so on.

I say this in jest, mostly, but my sister and I had joked about it for years.

If we could fall and break something, we would.
If we could have problems with our automobiles that would cost thousands of dollars, it would happen.

If I could get lost, it'd happen. I always leave the house early for my standard half hour of "Getting lost time." It's happened so much in my life that I now allot the extra time in my schedule, which seems to have helped with my nack for getting everywhere late!

If I have a 50/50 chance to make a correct decision, it's more than likely going to be wrong.

Murphy's Law, applies to the Madeups. In spades.

I've been a klutz all my life. Dropping, breaking, tripping, etc. Falling off horses, breaking my leg and crushing my vertebra during another horseback riding accident. I've been knocked nearly unconscious by a ceiling fan, had my shirt burned by fire while I was cooking (Reaching for the spices in the cabinet above the stove while wearing a half shirt. Hey it was the eighties.) I've had my truck stolen, I've had multiple surgeries and couldn't have anymore children after my beautiful son, who by the way seems to have enough of his father in him that he's not quite so susseptable to the curse o the Madeups.

2012 is the year, however, where I try to end this! I'm taking a stand against Murphy and bad luck and turning it around. It's all about positive thinking, right?

I woke up yesterday with broken glasses. Now, I can't see without them. Close up, reading a book, watching TV (If I'm on top of it) no problem. Driving, not so much. Looking at the computer screen so I can write my next few books, absolutely not.

So, I headed out, to a town a few hours away, where I had an eye exam, which I needed because hey, I'm almost forty-two and my eyes are changing. I bought contacts, and the young lady in the office was even able to manage a temporary fix on my broken frame so I'd have my old glasses until my new, lighter weight frames aarive in a few weeks.

My sister died last year and it's been the roughest year of my life. Even a divorce after fourteen years of marriage, which was life altering and devastatingly painful, wasn't as life altering as actually having a sibling die too young and leave a child behind.

My sister gambled with her life because she became addicted to her pain medication. She was a decorated veteran of the United States Navy, had an incredilby high IQ, and naturally talented at anything she picked up. Needlepoint, sewing, quilting, designing incredibly gorgeous curtains from magazine design pictures, artwork, woodwork, etc. If she put her mind to it, she conquered.

But, her luck, it finally ran out.

The lesson in all of this? It isn't doom and gloom. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I'll be forty-two years old in February, and I'm taking luck into my own hands. I'm embracing it the way I have always embraced chocolate and Dr. Pepper. Hey, I'm on a diet now, but that's not the point. I love chocolate and Dr. Pepper, please don't get me started.
Do they have Dr. Pepper AA?

Like luck, I'm turning it all around.
I'll control what I take into my body...Dr. Pepper and chocolate, people, what'd you think I meant? lol

I woke up with broken glasses and instead of pondering it or wallowing in self pity, I went out and fixed the problem.

If felt pretty good.

Maybe I can't change fate or alter my luck, but what I do with it, that's my choice.

2012 will be my best year in publishing. I can feel it.

What about you? How's your luck? Do you believe in luck or just believe in fate?

Things to ponder in 2012.

Have a great day,
Taylor




















trying.