Make Your New Year Lucky

Wednesday night (Christmas Eve) as I was getting the ham on the smoker and prepping the ingredients for my famous pineapple-upside-down cake-in-a-skillet I realized I would use up all the butter and brown sugar in the house — leaving us in the lurch for Christmas Day. So, I ran over to HEB…which was already closed, so I had to go to Fiesta which was open for 25 more minutes. I gathered my items, including more non-alcoholic beer for my father-in-law, and headed to the front register with a crowd of others.

I found the line with the least number of items to be purchased (the real way to find the quickest line.) I queued up behind a woman in pajama pants, slippers and a coat. I laid my items down on the conveyer and she noticed the six-pack immediately.

“Are you sure you wanted to buy non-alcoholic beer?” she asked. She was probably in her mid-to-late-30s with short blond disheveled curls and a sweet face.

I explained my father-in-laws poorly performing liver and assured her the beer was not for me. She apologized for being nosy, “I made that mistake once and was so mad when I got home and realized what I had bought.”

I watched the cashier run her items through the scanner: two avocados, a bag of chips, some guacamole mix and a single martini glass. She ran her Lone Star card quickly through the card reader, covered up the card with her right hand as if to hide it and fumbled in a PIN with her left.

“It says your PIN number is invalid, ma’am.” the cashier said.

I could feel the woman’s anxiety increase as she blushed, dropped her shoulders and head slightly and re-entered her PIN.

“The remaining balance is $1.08.”

The woman pulled a single dollar bill from her wallet and fished around in the change pocket for a dime. The cashier gave her the two penny change and she slowly put it in her wallet, folded it up and collected her bags. As she walked a way I called out “Merry Christmas.” In return she only offered me a pleasant tight-lipped smile.

It wasn’t until I was paying for my groceries that I realized the opportunity God had offered me. Our Christmas dinner was bountiful and carried the warm weight that only close friends and family can bring it. One more plate at the table — even a complete stranger’s — would not have been a burden. It would have only increased our blessings.

An article at BBC covers a professor’s study into luck revealing that luck is simply a function of awareness and taking advantage of opportunities that arise. On Christmas Day I decided that my New Year’s Resolution would be to increase my awareness of all the people around me at every possible moment, and to look for ways that I can bring God’s blessings to them through my actions (and then take the action required.) Reading this article the next day was a none-too-subtle reminder to make this happen.

I can’t bring this resolution to fruition on my own, since changing personal behavior is maybe the hardest obstacle all of us face, but in the New Year I would appreciate your help in reminding me of my lofty goal. (And if you share your resolutions with me, I’ll promise to help you with yours.)

Happy New Year!

Posted by etrigan at December 26, 2003 11:09 AM