This is the next series of posts from hand-picked guest bloggers about power; they have also written about trust . The idea for this series was kicked off by me rewatching Game of Thrones and thinking about its twin themes of power and trust.

My second guest blogger to write about power is Susan Cooper, who comes from the corporate world and who I first met on Triberr but is now a firm friend on Twitter.  Her first guest post on trust is a wonderful read and can be accessed here if you haven’t read it. Susan is now very happy being an artist, writer and blogger. Besides the fact that she tells really good stories, her biggest draw card to her blog www.findingourwaynow.com would be her delightful illustrations.

Have you ever wondered why a fortune teller – or whatever fortune predictor is at hand – has the power to convince us that what they (or it) have to say has real value? It’s fascinating to me how easy it is to take what a fortune teller has to say as a predictor of our good or bad fortune. That they – or it – have a crystal ball that can foretell any future event or events to come.

Let me give you an example. It’s fun to open a fortune cookie to see what the fortune will be. Many times we get some inane fortune that says something like: “You are a great person, with a good personality”. However, every now and then, we get one that hits home at just the right time that seems to speak just to us. We hold on to it, both physically and mentally. We put it in our purse or wallet. We post it on a bulletin board at work or home on the refrigerator.  We hang on to it as if it were a message meant just for us. That the message we receive is from an unknown sage who has the ability to see into our future. Then we start looking for signs that the fortune is coming to pass… until we forget about it. So why do we do this? My belief is we do it because it makes us feel good for a time. We have the notion that something wonderful could happen because that particular fortune showed up at just the right moment.

I had one of these fortunes appear the other day. The fortune read: “You will be traveling and coming into a fortune”. My first thought was: “WOW!!! I am so ready for that!”. My second thought was: “Who knows?  It could happen”.  The first part of this fortune is already true. I travel fairly regularly. The second part is what we all hope for. So (don’t laugh) I bought a lottery ticket with the numbers that were below the fortune (now I know you’re laughing!). Now, I have to say that is real power, when something like that can move us to think that we could be the next lotto winner.

When we (at least I do) think of coming into a fortune, we think of winning a lottery, or inheriting a large sum of money from some unknown relative. Admit it: we even have plans (you know it’s true) as to how we would spend our winnings or windfall. The fact is: the possibility of either of these things happening is very remote, especially because many of us rarely buy a lottery ticket, or have a long-lost unknown relative. However, we still wait for that miracle, wishing and hoping that it will come to pass… and as soon as possible.I believe we do this same thing in our daily lives. We do this by waiting, praying, wishing and hoping for something magically to appear to make our lives “all better”. Doesn’t that sound about right? We can’t see the power that we possess to create our own good fortune. Metaphorically speaking, we miss the part about buying the “lottery ticket” of working towards a goal we desire.

So what occurred to me was,  just maybe,  the power and meaning of that fortune in the cookie is our journey in life leads to the good fortune of knowledge, friends and priceless experiences. This is where true wealth lies and what we should draw from when finding our way to a happy, purposeful – and yes – a wealthy life that is rich with all the experiences we would miss by waiting. Working towards a goal isn’t as sexy or as easy as winning the lotto or inheriting a fortune, but waiting for something that will never happen is most certainly a fruitless endeavor.

There are two lessons from this. The first lesson is: don’t wait for something to happen that will bring us good fortune. There is no power or sage out there who can tell us what the future holds. We shouldn’t wait for something magical to reveal itself to us. It certainly won’t come from a fortune teller or a cookie. The journey to any new opportunity is often a circuitous route so buy a “lottery ticket” by taking action that moves towards something. That “start of something” is most often right in front of us, even if it’s only to spend time on a favorite hobby. Just get started.

The second lesson is to look within ourselves for gifts we possess and have gained from our life’s experiences, and then find a way to use them. Aside from our natural gifts, I see the remaining successes as our reward for all the challenges we face and overcome, now and from our experiences.  We just never know where one of these hard-earned gifts will take us unless we find a way to put them to good use. Now that is truest, purest power we all possess.

Life’s journey continues…