Luck

Lately I've been thinking about luck.  When I won lots of track events in eighth grade my track coach started calling me, "Lucky Lellman".  I never knew exactly why.  Did he think that my opponents suddenly got cramps which allowed me to win?  He certainly knew I had the most school records and they were all posted on a large board in the locker room.  He was irritated that I hated competition and would never agree to be on a sports team no matter how much he tried to persuade me.  What coach wouldn't be bugged by that?  He knew I was simply "Happy-Go-Lucky" and in irritation maybe he switched it to "Lucky Lellman."   Fine with me - whatever.

When I was 20 a Buddhist monk/palmist in Thailand took one look at my palm and started laughing.  I asked him what was going on and he said he had never seen anyone so lucky.  I dismissed it until I was 25 and I had a remarkably similar experience.  I was staying in a hill tribe village in northern Thailand and one night a shaman asked to look at my palm.  He reacted the same way as the monk; rolling back with laughter.  I asked my guide to interpret and the same thing came out - I was the luckiest person he had ever seen.  He went on to say that everyone has luck.  Some have it at the beginning of their lives, some in the middle and some have luck way at the end of their lives but what he saw in my palm suggested that my luck was spread throughout my life.  I still have a hard time believing such things are written on the palms of hands.

Of course, I have been lucky enough to have survived seven or eight nasty illnesses while traveling in Asia that brought me to the brink of death.   But was it luck or a good immune system to have recovered?  And was it luck that I got those illnesses in the first place?!  No matter what, I do feel lucky to be alive but I also believe that a person can create a measure of good luck by being logical and cautious.  Choosing to put oneself feet or inches from unpredictable and fast-moving vehicles does rely on a bit of luck.  But you can do things to minimize risk.  For instance, I wouldn't cycle in Thailand during a major holiday because there are way too many drunk drivers.  Don't cycle at night.  Find alternative routes to big highways - the less traveled roads or the "Unmettled Roads".

I actually think I've had my fair share of bad luck but I believe there is always a measure of good in the bad if you look.  I try to find the positive in everything and maybe I am lucky to mostly be able to succeed in this.  I believe a good attitude can go a long way.   Maybe this belief comes from having been a photographer all my life.   I know for a fact that there is beauty in everything including things most people wouldn't spend one second of time looking at or approaching.  Visually there is always beauty and maybe this concept carries into every aspect of life.     

I was still in my 40's when I got Lyme disease - no luck involved there.  But I do what I can to cope with the joint pain and mental paralysis.  Maybe having this stupid disease is a test for me to see what good I can find in having it!  What I have found is that activity is best for the joints and what better stimulation for the mind than to be in unfamiliar situations every single day for 130 days in a row!  It could even be said that I wouldn't have started cycling if I hadn't gotten this disease.

I certainly cannot call myself a cyclist.  A gardener sure, maybe an amateur photographer, even an explorer of parts of Asia, but a cyclist?  Since Andrea and I returned from our last big cycle tour of S.E. Asia (more than two and a half years ago) I have ridden around 270 miles!  That's less than nine miles per month or, if I stretch this out so that it looks really pathetic that's less than a third of a mile per day.  Cyclist?  No, certainly not.   

So, with my 1500 feet of cycling per day since our last trip here we're doing it again - another adventure in Burma and beyond, on bikes!   I must admit that I don't have a great deal of interest in riding my bike in and around Portland.  I actively promote cycling in Portland including meeting with city officials to let them know how important cycling infrastructure improvements are for cycling in our city.   

For me the beauty of cycling is to get to remote places in S.E. Asia, to explore and be able to immerse myself in other cultures.  This is my cure for Lyme disease as well as putting this luck stuff to yet another big test and I'm going to need luck even more this time because this is my 13th long trip in Asia.  Good thing I'm not superstitious.  

lovebruce  

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Kat Marriner To only do you see beauty all around you, you recognize a good story in something as simple as a lucky water bottle. Safe travels, friend.
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