Past as Prologue

Do you consider yourself unlucky? Ever feel like fate has dealt you a bad hand? Let’s experiment with another way of looking at things.

Did you ever feel cursed by fate? You know, as if something – bad genes, bad parents, childhood trauma, wrong color, wrong body, wrong side of the tracks (it really doesn’t matter what) – has ruined your chances to succeed in life?

If you do, there is something very important you need to understand, so you can take yourself from feeling like you do, to where you want to be in the future. Here it is: None of those things are holding you back. But something is, and it’s far more powerful than a crippling disease or poverty.

What is holding you back is your belief about what you are worth and what you can do. Henry Ford said it as well as anyone: “If you think you can, you’re right. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.” It all starts in your mind. Fortunately, you can change your mind.

Sure, it’s a big plus to have loving parents and good looks and lots of money. But you don’t have to have them to succeed – to do and have what you want in life. (Let’s face it. Monetary or material successes have never guaranteed happiness. And “good looks” is certainly someone else’s opinion, which we are free to ignore.)

The one thing you do need to accept is responsibility: for choices you make or don’t make, for how you respond to what happens to you, and for developing yourself to achieve more of your full potential. Once you let go of your excuses and accept responsibility, you also assume control. It is taking your life off of autopilot, grabbing the wheel and charting your own course.

In quoting the Bard, “the past is prologue” and only sets the stage for today. Each of us has the opportunity to create our own life. So, take charge of your own life, and if you still believe in it, your own fate. And you know, it’s the most amazing thing – you also start to get “lucky”!