Take a chance occasionally and create your own luck

Occasionally I buy a lottery ticket, even though I am not a gambler and have never even been to Las Vegas. I know the probability of winning anything is extremely unlikely, so usually it's just a donation to the state!

But the reason I buy a ticket once in a while is because my mother won $75,000 in the Colorado lottery on a scratch ticket some years ago. My parents were already retired so it was a lovely piece of luck for them.

Mom went down to the lottery office. They deducted the withholding tax and gave her a check for $54,000. So I know someone really wins.

The most I've ever won is $100 on a $10 scratch ticket. I put those earnings in the bank.

I do believe in luck and we all need a bit of luck once in a while. I think the bereaved especially need some luck, and good fortune. There are so many tough feelings and problems to solve after the death of a dear one. It's nice to have the occasional good fortune or surprise.

I have lots of good luck charms. Both my husband and I collected good luck charms from many countries over the years. Personally, I always carry a blue bead for luck and protection. I'm Greek Orthodox so I even have an orthodox cross with such a bead on it. And some Roman Catholics have a St. Christopher medal in their cars as he is the patron saint of travelers.

But we must remember that, for most of us, good luck is actually the result of good decisions, good planning and being careful with our finances. I do believe most good luck is self made, but with some real luck mixed in — a combination.

So the point is: Be open to a little unexpected luck, even if you do not buy lottery tickets. Last summer I won a very huge basket of specialty chocolates at Diamond Jim's, an excellent local restaurant with homemade food, just by buying a few tickets for a raffle that was being held to help a regular customer in need. His son had died unexpectedly and he needed money to pay funeral expenses.

So I take a chance occasionally. You never know what might happen. It felt good to win that basket of goodies and I shared it with my new neighbors.

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@comcast.net or see her blog longtermgrief.tumblr.com. See previous columns at www.dailyherald.com/topics/Anderson-Kleif-Susan.