No 48 11-30-18 “How to Help Luck!”
“What helps luck is a habit of watching for opportunities, of having a patient, but restless mind, of sacrificing one’s ease or vanity, of uniting a love of detail to foresight, and of passing through hard times bravely and cheerfully.”
– Charles Victor Cherbuliez
(1829-1899) French Novelist
I have had a great deal of luck in my life, all my life. I was directed to Arthur Murray Dance Centers in 1975 at 18 years old. That saved me and for the following years I was too busy taking dance lessons, performing, teaching, and growing as an Arthur Murray professional to get into any trouble in my life. At 25 I was honored to take my judge’s, 1980. How many of you were alive then? I was a Disco-Hustle King!
I was honored to work in Phoenix, the Camelot school of Arthur Murray for many years and my bosses guided me to purchase my first home and they guided me to success.
Then at 30, through marathon running, I met the first love of my life. Everything changed, and I sold that first home and moved to Venice, CA. I became a studio manager and eventually purchased my own school. That wonderful first partner was taken away from me due to cancer and several years of the Dark Night of the Soul ensued.
Many great Arthur Murray friends and family took care of me for those years. Then, I met my now husband, best friend, my hero, my confident, my strength, my companion. Yes, I was lucky again in love, and have been so again for 12 years. We own a successful Arthur Murray Dance Center together. That’s a lot of good luck and a whole lot of hard work.
I’m difficult to know, be with, live with, work with, and sometimes just knowing me is difficult. So far, I have not come home to find all my things on the sidewalk and the locks changed so I much be doing something right. Luck as again kept my good attributes stronger than my crazy bad ones.
Today, I do watch for the opportunities, every day, all day. I do have a patient but very restless mind and spirit. I have known true heartache, so I am impatient in rough times. I will sacrifice my vanity and say, “I’m sorry”. I love detail and love planning, they are perfectly married in my life. I do pass through hard times very bravely, but not so very cheerfully I’m sorry to write.
“Patience is passion tamed.”
– Lyman Abbott (1835 – 1922)
American Congregationalist theologian
Being a person of extreme passion, I am lucky to have some of it reined in through patience. Well, not completely, but I try to have a bit of patience. I realize that I do have to have people around to work for me, and I do want some friends, so I realize I cannot act right all the time, and I must exercise patience in many areas of life.
“Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best.”
– David O. McKay (1873 – 1970)
American Religious Leader
I found the first photos of this blog, “Changing Lives Through Dancing” from many years ago. I found what at that time were my “fat” before photos, and I would love now to get down to the size I was then when I thought I was too big. I started with blogging about my diet journey. The weight has gone up and down, but the hundreds of blogs somehow continued over the years, and the passion for writing and speaking has grown and overtaken me. My purpose in life now is huge, to constantly guide and mentor others to success. This is a very difficult task and it a life long journey. This purpose will continue until my last breath, and hopefully through my writing, long after I pass.
To be an effective mentor truly challenges every skill I possess to be at my best, daily. Do I fail, let’s not go there. Do I need to keep growing, yes! Do I know it all, no, but I am willing to try and get better and better every day and grown through my failures and survive my successes.
I have found my purpose, now I just must work without fail daily to achieve greatness in every area to help, love, and support others.
Feel like you can’t do this, you can. I am and I’m getting better all the time.
Have I truly been lucky in my life? The answer is YES and whether it is luck from hard work or just saying yes at the right times, I welcome this luck and much more in my life.
I wish you luck and happiness in your life as well. You deserve it!
Thanks for reading!
David Earl Woodbury
Keep on Dancing!
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