"I don't work with unlucky people"

My husband once worked with someone who, when it came to hiring people, would collect a pile of randomly stacked prospective CVs, pick up the top half and immediately throw the bottom half into the bin without even a read-through. To this he would state, “I don’t work with unlucky people.”

How does that story make you feel? It brings me face to face with the harsh truth of life’s randomness and how much luck really does play a part in one’s success. It made me feel quite powerless and disheartened, at least when I think of myself as being one of those summarily discarded CV’s. When I put my self into the role of decision maker however, I see what a useful technique it is for getting the job done in at least half the time.

I like to think that this old colleague of my husband’s actually possessed huge faith- that he believed if the universe intended something to happen it would not pass him by. I know from my own experience how some of the best things come directly from rejections, nastiness, or failures. At the time, I thought they were horrific and upsetting. But looking back, I see they were in fact good luck, bullets passing me by.

I can be too meticulous, too picky, too careful over things in life. For instance - I am often overwhelmed by the amount of weeding needed in my garden. I have always taken the view that I needed to do all the weeding by hand, on my knees, up close to the soil so I could determine ‘bad’ plant from ‘good’ plant. It takes a long while to finish the weeding. It begins to feel like a never-ending to-do, leading to overwhelm and then I find it hard to commit to do any weeding! My garden suffers, along with my enjoyment of it.

Until I was reminded of my husband’s colleague and thought ‘stuff it, I need to get this job done. I don’t grow unlucky plants!’. I got out my big garden fork and weeded in big swathes, identifying weeds from a standing position only. I no doubt removed a few of the ‘good’ seedlings, but I kept reminding myself that if that were the case then these plants were not intended for my garden.

I got so much more done that day. Considerably more! What used to take two-weeks had taken one day, and the garden doesn’t look damaged or devastated by this ‘care-less’ approach. In fact, I feel better, accomplished, and more willing to get other jobs completed.

And then there’s my writing.

I am trying to live more by this code too – “I don’t write unlucky words/sentences/paragraphs” means I am being less finickity about keeping my ‘darlings’, as Stephen King would say. If the word doesn’t earn its keep, then, woosh, it is weeded out. I believe that in being freer, less attached, and obsessively meticulous, I will uncover the story the universe intends me to write and do it in a way that means it might fly higher and wider. I believe by letting go I am enabling a stronger story, more compelling characters, and tighter, punchier prose to emerge.

It's still shocking being this daring. But what is meant to happen will. As the saying goes, ‘Man proposes, God disposes’.

Rachel x