LUCKY BREAKS (and Lessons Learned)
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we asked our team to share a story about luck, a moment when things unexpectedly worked out, or perhaps didn’t … but led somewhere better. As it turns out, luck shows up in all kinds of ways, sometimes dramatic, sometimes funny, and sometimes only obvious in hindsight. Brilynn I was flying home from Florida with only a 15-minute layover in Atlanta and had to change planes that were four concourses away. I sprinted through the airport, convinced I was going to miss my flight. When I finally arrived at the gate, breathless and stressed, I learned that the pilot for my connecting flight had been on the same flight from Florida. We all ended up waiting an extra 45 minutes for him. I had sprinted for nothing! Melanie When my family was relocating to Mansfield, our offer on the house we really wanted was rejected. At the time, it felt disappointing. Instead, we ended up purchasing an old farmhouse that I absolutely adore, in a better school district, where we happily raised our children. Who would have thought that rejection would turn out to be such good fortune? Suzanna
Faith During family game night, we were playing Dumb Ways to Die, and I rolled a “1,” the only number that keeps you from losing during the Psycho Attack. Lucky me! Carrie In 2017, a few of us joined a March Madness pool through a coworker’s husband’s factory. I filled out my bracket based entirely on school colors, no stats, no research, just whichever color I liked best. Somehow, I won the entire pool. I’ve tried that strategy since, and it has never worked again. I’m pretty sure I used up all my bracket luck in one year. Rachel When my husband and I were preparing for our wedding weekend in Clearwater Beach in 2022, hurricanes were moving through Florida, and we were bracing for the worst. Somehow, the storms shifted just enough that we had no rain and no damage at our venue. Our entire weekend stayed clear. After watching the forecast for weeks, the perfect weather felt like the luckiest break we could have imagined, and made the celebration even more special. While some of these stories are lighthearted and
others more life-changing, they all share something in common: Sometimes what feels stressful, disappointing, or uncertain in the moment can turn into something unexpectedly positive. Whether it’s a missed house that leads to the right one, a pause that opens a better door, or even a last-minute weather miracle, luck has a way of showing up when we least expect it. And occasionally … it just gives us a good story to tell.
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, I had just finished my first year of grad school, which I had paid for out of savings. With businesses shutting down, I wasn’t sure my full-time job would remain secure, so I made the difficult decision to pause my education. A couple of years later, while searching for new opportunities, I found a full-time position at the very college I had previously attended. One of the employee benefits? Free tuition. I was able to resume my degree without paying for the remaining semesters. Talk about lucky!
2 Rinehardt Law | BeSmartLegal.com
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