“Feeling Lucky, Punk?”

The sunflowers have turned their backs on me. That’s a line I wrote in my journal six years ago when I was moving back to the States after a year in France.

That year was a defining year for me in so many ways. How lucky I was to live in the south of France for an entire year. How lucky I was to be able to travel around Europe, racking up twelve countries in twelve months. How lucky I was to have a few of my short stories and poems published in a little thing called the French Literary Review.

How lucky I was.

How lucky I am.

My year of wonderful luck did not begin in France and it did not end in France. My luck is with me all the time.

The memories of the first few days of arrival in France are deeply etched in my soul. Fields upon fields sunflowers welcomed us. I had never truly appreciated the sunflower until that moment.

Images of sunflowers now always bring me back there, to that feeling. I was immersed in beauty. I was living a new adventure every day. I was excited to be there.

When I arrived in France, I knew nothing. I didn’t know the language. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know my way around.

I learned.

And I loved it.

The beauty, the sense of adventure, the excitement didn’t wane. Discovery kept on continuing. Outer discovery led to inner discovery.

My husband’s job assignment ended and one year later, we moved back. I wasn’t ready to come back just yet. When we returned, I felt as if I was entering new territory again. I had come alive that year away and had gotten in touch with my inner voice. Moving back to the same old surroundings seemed to stifle it.

Yet I had learned to trust myself. I had learned I could navigate new waters and succeed. I had learned that I could learn a new language, a new way of being. I was ready to keep learning.

I launched my freelance career. I learned a new language of editors, contracts, and deadlines.

I started saying no to things, people, and situation that didn’t feel right for me. I learned a new language of self-discovery and speaking up for me.

I got divorced. I learned a new language of speaking my truth.

Life is like that. We follow our instincts. We keep learning. We learn that we can speak a new language, meet new people, and find our way around. We learn to trust, and most importantly we learn to trust ourselves.

I learned that life is full of beauty, a sense of adventure, and unending discovery. I don’t have to live in a foreign country to experience that.

The life I have crafted for myself now includes beauty, various levels of adventure, and constant self-discovery. Not only do I do work that I love, with a man that I love, in surroundings that I love, I am discovering new interesting people, places, and ideas all the time. I get opportunities to learn and grow.

How lucky I am.

We all are. It simply requires opening one’s eyes to behold, to speak the new language of gratitude.

You don’t have to travel to the south of France to discover anything. It’s right where you are.

This picture of sunflowers is taken by Joy Spreader Sylvia Waldsmith. It’s a country road in northern Illinois. I bet you have a field of beauty or an ocean or a mountain or a patch of wildflowers in your neck of the woods.

Beauty is everywhere. Adventure is anything new and exciting to you. Discovery happens with a sudden insight.

Recognizing it and being thankful, that’s when you know you are really lucky. The better it gets, the better it gets. How lucky I am.

How about you?