Bonne Chance @ DAHplaytime.com Good Luck Tip O'The Week! SHRUG IT OFF!

A key trait of lucky people (those that both perceive themselves to be lucky, and are perceived to be lucky by others) is the ability to shrug off today's disasters. We know that today's disaster is temporary. Yes, we all encounter challenges, difficulties, and set-backs. To make your own luck, shrug off the bad stuff, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on.

Tom Perls of Boston University's New England Centenarian Study (reported in THE WEEK October 15, 2010) suggests, of those living to 100 years and older, "Our subjects are generally extroverted and gregarious and have a stable social network … furthermore, they're aren't neurotic … they don't bemoan life's difficulties; they are masters at the art of letting go."

Maybe deliberate optimism contributes to a long life as well as good luck. And maybe long-life and good-luck travel hand in hand.

I remind myself to "shrug it off" with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Make your spirits high, shrug off the old nonsense, get lucky and live long.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at DAHplaytime.com