Lucky day

I considered yesterday a lucky day.

The reason is simple; as I drove home from Kirana’s house, all the traffic lights coincidentally turn green.

It’s a rare occasion because I have to drive through more than 5 crossings, and somehow I didn’t have to wait in any red lights. This is not something I am able to plan or attempt to do, only wait for it happen on cue.

That’s why I am especially grateful about yesterday. And why I label today’s trip as an unlucky one.

This time, I have to meet all the reds, and one of them took so long I decided to take a different route.

I was not angry, it’s just a little drive home. But I cannot deny a little frustration. And at the peak of frustration, I realized two things that keeps me from getting angry.

First, I am an impatience man, and this is a little test of endurance. Why should I be angry towards tests? It’s meant to bring improvements and isn’t it what everybody seek? A chance to improve?

Second realization is applicable to small situations like this, but also bigger ones. In the face dismay, even tragedies, we can either succumb to our emotion, or we can muster another kind of gratefulness towards the situation. How? By realizing that the good days is only good because of the bad days.

I won’t consider yesterday a lucky day if the trip only takes 2 crossings. It takes more than 5 incidental green lights for me to feel the little blessing, and it is only satisfying because the grim chance of facing 5 red lights.

Today, I encounter that chance. Which makes me even more grateful not about today, but about yesterday.

In a way, the world really does reflect the way we see it. It can be brighter for those who decide to be grateful, and it can be bleak for those who let situations lead their emotion.