What Are You Looking For?

A few years ago, mentalist Derren Brown conducted a TV show experiment about luck in the small town of Todmorden. He had his own people go into town and begin circulating a rumor about a statue of a dog in a nearby park that was said to be lucky for whoever rubbed its head. At first, people weren't convinced, but soon, folks began rubbing its head and reporting a fantastic turn of luck in their lives. Some people came into money, others into business opportunities, and other good things.

Among the townspeople was a butcher named Wayne (seen petting the statue in the picture above). Wayne claimed to have the worst luck of anyone he knew, citing how his brother won lottery draws, found money, and had other great things happen to him, while Wayne never had anything good happen. He did rub the dog, but he felt his luck would never change.

Here's the secret he missed: Derren began to try to turn things his way. He had a scratch-off ticket put in his mailbox that was rigged to let him win a television. Wayne threw it away. He put someone near his store giving out money for answering a single question about cuts of beef (and with Wayne being a butcher, he was guaranteed to get it right), but Wayne said no to answering the question and walked away. They even dropped a fifty-pound note (British money, not weight) on the ground directly in his path, but he didn't even notice it and passed it by.

Have you ever had your mind made up on a particular aspect of your life and refused to change it? Maybe you think you'll never get that big break in your job because you are what you are and can't be more. Perhaps you believe you'll never be able to save any money because it seems to slip through your fingers like water.

How you see yourself and life in general is so important! People who look for bad things to happen are never disappointed, while folks looking for the good in life tend to be equally happy.

When we focus on certain things in life, we tend to tune out the other side. A person can slip and fall only to find a $20 bill on the ground beside them. The happy person is ecstatic about finding the money and laughs about what it took to get them there, while the unhappy person might focus solely on the fall to the ground and ignore the cash altogether.

If you are naturally pessimistic, fight hard to turn your mindset around. If you are optimistic, become even more so. Your mindset affects your outlook!

This week, focus on something positive and see if other aspects of your life don't improve as well. Try to find that one thing today you can be thankful for, and you might be surprised at the new stuff you have to celebrate as well!

P.S. In the story above, Wayne significantly changed his focus on luck after discovering how many opportunities he'd missed. At the end of the show, he bet his entire life savings on a roll of the dice. He must have believed in luck then, because he actually did roll the correct number on the dice and ended up winning five times the amount he'd bet!