Are you waiting for your lucky break in life? Trying to meet the perfect partner, score a good job, win ‘American Idol’ or make enough money to buy a really dope juicer? Perhaps you’ve considered trying anything to make it happen. Lucky objects are as old as time itself, but feng shui lifestyle expert Alice Inoue tells us they may not be all they are cracked up to be;
Feng shui is heavy on symbolism and what objects “represent.” You can find lists of objects that can be placed in the home to attract whatever you want more of, everything from fish figurines for money, to elephants for fertility, to deities and altars for protection. I have been to dozens of homes and businesses where items were placed strategically for luck, abundance, health and romance, everything from fire dragons, three legged frogs, coins, mandarin ducks, lucky bamboo, golden gourds, and more. The million-dollar question is, do they work?
Most often when I ask the owner to tell me about the lucky items in his or her home or office, I hear something along the lines of, “This is what the store sold me” or “I read that having these items is good luck.” The items obviously are not working because the client wants to know what else he or she can do. Is it about purchasing another lucky object or is there more to it?
I use feng shui symbolism to create an intention in the environment. Placing something in your environment that has meaning to you will symbolically and energetically support you whenever you see it, but the item itself has no magic ability to change your “luck.”
The other day a woman said to me, “You’ll love this! I put a money toad in my wealth corner and I received a large check in the mail the next day. Feng shui actually works!” I cringe when I hear stories like this. Feng shui has nothing to do with luck or getting something for nothing. The toad may have subconsciously helped her to focus on what she wanted, but it was she who created the opportunity for the check to arrive.
Feng shui is not about purchasing something to place in your home so that the item itself can bring you what you want. That is a fantasy that many people unfortunately buy into and what you sensed as “bogus.” If you want to manifest anything, you must hold the intention and vision of what you want and recognize opportunities to create it when they arise. Symbols meaningful to you will help to support you in that endeavor.
SO… Is there such a thing as luck?
I feel we create our own “luck” and that every event in our lives has two sides to it— the “lucky” and “unlucky” sides—based on our perception, or thoughts. Winning the lottery may seem lucky, but most people who hit the jackpot can give you a list of the challenges that came along with winning all that money, the “unlucky” side.
When something happens that we perceive as being challenging, the positive side is that it is helping us to find a better path, grow in ways we never would have otherwise, or see a situation differently.
Surrounding yourself with symbolic objects and images can be helpful because they keep a focus on the possibilities and opportunities for what you want to create.
What about people who seem luckier than most?
In the same way, I do not think of one person being luckier than another. The lucky person is one who looks towards the positive, sees more opportunities, and acts on them. The person who thinks he or she is unlucky is stuck in a pattern of thinking that promotes or engenders “unluckiness” and missed opportunities.
Researcher Richard Wiseman (The Skeptical Inquirer, 27, 1-5) cleverly showed this pattern in an interesting experiment. He had volunteers read through a newspaper and count the photos in it. Those who thought they were lucky took a few seconds to complete it, while those who saw themselves as unlucky took an average of two minutes. Why is that? Because on the second page of the newspaper, a large message read: “Stop counting, there are 43 photos in this newspaper.” The answer was clearly marked, but the unlucky people were far more likely to miss it, while the lucky people tended to see it.
As an added bonus, half way through the newspaper was another message that read, “Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” The people who claimed to be unlucky in life, looked right past this message, never seeing what was clearly in front of them, losing time and money.
This experiment shows that the same possibility for money and success is latent in everyone’s environment, but some people pick up on it and others do not. What you see or do not see may be based on how you see yourself. No one in that room had “more chances” than anyone else. It bears repeating that we create our chances or “luck” based on our outlook.
Use symbolism in your environment to help you “see” and create more opportunities in your life. The stronger your connection with what the objects represent, the more positive and useful they become for you, but never confuse “objects” with the power of your own intention. Your reality is a creation of your thoughts and intentions.
Alice Inoue is a life guide at Alice Inoue Life Guidance, LLC, a company committed to assisting people in living empowered lives. Alice shares her wisdom as a professional speaker and personal consultant and offers a series of instructional DVD’s on feng shui, as well as her award-winning books on feng shui, happiness and spiritual life wisdom. www.aliceinspired.com