Looking for that four-leaf clover?
I suspect we all have dreams of the person we want to become, the life we look forward to, the goals we yearn to accomplish, the ambitions we hope to achieve, the experiences we long to have, and undoubtedly we can also envision the assets we wish to acquire over the course of our lifetime. And I suspect many of us have wished for that yellow brick road that would get us to our pot of gold as fast as possible.
As I was walking around our farm the other day, I noticed a huge patch of clover. I fondly recalled the many hours I spent as a young child sitting in the midst of a clover patch looking for one with four leafs.
Wikipedia explains that the four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally. In addition, each leaf is believed to represent something: the first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.
Someone had told me that finding a four-leaf clover brought the promise of good fortune. Granted, at six years old, I’m not sure I had a real sense of what good fortune would mean, other than an endless stockpile of my favorite candy. But I knew it sounded like a good thing and was worth my search effort.
With the odds one in 10,000, I never found my four-leaf clover, however.
Even though I gave up long ago the idea of finding the coveted four-leaf clover, I have often longed for some kind of faster track to reaching my dreams. Since most of my dreams cost money, there have been times when I purchased a lottery ticket, rationalizing somebody had to win so why couldn’t it be me.
Other times I go about my dreams the old-fashioned way – setting goals and implementing plans that hopefully – eventually – will help me accomplish them.
It is still tempting to wish for that easier and faster route. And the long, dusty, dirt road we often must endure can become discouraging. It wasn’t too long ago when I had an epiphany that calmed my anxiousness.
I concluded that living the life of our dreams never reaches a final destination; that our lifetime is always ahead of us. I reasoned it didn’t matter if I had not yet become the person I’ve always wanted to be because we’re always in the state of “becoming.” We never reach the point where we can say there’s nothing more to learn or experience or achieve. So there wasn’t an ultimate “pot of gold” to obtain that would indicate my journey was over. This was a relief!