Perspective.

I found this post in my drafts folders, and I can't figure out why I never posted it.  I wrote it all the way back in August 2010, so over two years ago.  It's still totally relevant to my perspective, so without further ado.

***

August 2010

I've had a recurring thought this past week or so that I've been figuring out how to translate into an entry here.  It started last Saturday, when one of my computers died.  I was just going through my iTunes, and boom. Blank.  Black screen.  I sat there for a good ten minutes trying to press the power button, trying to get it to reboot.  And then I faced the reality that my sweet little Mac might have gone to Hard Drive Heaven.  It ran through my mind that that computer holds all of my photos and my thousands of songs in my iTunes library, but I didn't - couldn't - get upset. It's just a computer, and I can always get another.

Then, Monday came along.  It was somewhat of a stressful morning, juggling all of the personal tasks I needed to accomplish that day that I hadn't been able to tackle over the weekend, and I was in such a cloud of trying to remember everything that I needed to do that I ran out of my apartment, and I shut the door behind me without my keys in my hand.  I went to work, got out around 6 pm, and called my super.  He finally called me back almost fives hours later, around 1045 pm, and I walked over to his place to grab my spare set of keys.  Phew - I could finally get to bed.  Until I tried the key in the lock and realized that I had never given my super the updated key from when I changed my locks back in April.  I finally resorted to a locksmith, and an hour and a few bones later, I was finally in.  Again, I wasn't upset...I just got into bed and was really grateful to have a nice apartment and a comfy bed to come home to.

This story brings me back to me changing my locks in April.  I was at my aforementioned "Cheers", chatting with Sarah and Morgan over some after-work cocktails, when a teenage girl walked in, stood next to me at the bar, I turned and smiled at her and turned back to Sarah, and the teenage girl picked my clutch up off the bar hook, put it on her shoulder, and pranced out of the restaurant.  She definitely racked up hundreds of dollars on my debit card within minutes, and NYPD never caught her.  No worries - all of the charges were reversed and all was fine in Debit Card Land.  This little handbag swiper did force me to fly home to LA to get my Driver's License replaced, and since she had my house keys and personal information, I also had to have my locks changed for precaution's sake.

Flashing back to being locked out of my apartment Monday night, I had some paperwork to do and was also in need of some dinner, so I headed over to my Cheers for a bite and some chit chat with my fave staffers there.  I told the manager, Chris, about my latest silly predicament, and he laughed at me.  He said, "I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because this stuff always happens to you.  And because you don't flinch.  You aren't upset right now, and you stayed so even-keeled the night your bag got stolen here.  You're weirdly calm about this crap."

I took it as a compliment.  I thought about it for a minute, and I told him that I just preferred to perceive it differently, and that I think that regardless, I'm a really lucky person.  Chris gave me a funny look and said, "Well if that's what you call luck, girl..."

Which brings me to my concluding thought.  I think that it's choice to see things in one way or another, just like it's a choice to let things affect you or not have an effect on you.  After looking back at all of these, I think it's safe to say that Lucky is in the eye of the beholder.

***