Lucky with Change.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is a reminder to stay adaptable and open to new opportunities.

In 500 BCE, when democracy was first established in ancient Athens, geometry was discovered, the first lock was created, and the earliest known maps were drawn, Heraclitus said, "μόνον τὸ μεταβάλλειν μένει," which Google roughly translates into the familiar saying, "the only constant is change." 

Heraclitus saw some world-changing changes around him and became famous for basically noticing that everything was always changing. To illustrate this, he was walking along the banks of a river with some of his followers. He stopped and pointed to the flowing water, saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice." He explained that the water you see in the river isn't the same water you'll see a moment later. Just like the river, you are also constantly changing. Minds were blown, and we are still quoting him over 2,524 years later because he was right.

So, change happens. It happens, and happens, and happens. Governments, markets, companies, cities, neighborhoods, your kids, the neighbor’s kids, music, fashion, the number of streaming services, your interests and hobbies, your waistline, and occasionally your opinion — all of it changes. 

Today’s fortune is telling us to embrace it this week. Open your arms, put a smile on your face and for just this week, give change a great big welcoming hug. Good or bad, let come what may: demoted or promoted. Hired or fired. Moved in or pushed out. Started up or shut down. Hug it all, whatever shows up. And then, and only if you embrace the change this week, today’s fortune predicts that there’s a chance for growth. 

Wait. So, I have to do all that and all I’ll get is a chance for growth??? While Heraclitus absolutely guarantees that change is always coming at you like rushing water, and even if you embrace all, any, and every change with complete and genuine acceptance, learning and growing from it is still not guaranteed. Chance, by definition, is when things happen randomly out of the blue, without a cause or a plan. I know it’s defined this way, because I’m nerdy and I looked it up. If you think that was nerdy, read on. I can always go nerdier.

The go-to ratio of chance is always the comparison of your likelihood of being struck by lightning. Am I right? Lightning striking you is a ratio of 1 in 1.2 million, unless you live in Tampa, Florida and your chances go up to 1 in 3,000. If you want to be a movie star, you have a 1 in 1.5 million chance. Move to Hollywood and your chance improves to 1 in 500,000. The chance of winning the Powerball jackpot is 1 in 292.2 million. If you buy 244 tickets, you could increase your chances to that of being struck by lightning. Unless you’re in Tampa, then you’d need to buy 97,400 tickets.

Change is constant and inevitable, and even if we welcome it with open arms, our chances of learning and growing from them are uncertain. But here's the good news: we can move into a new motivated mindset, double down with an open heart, and vastly improve our odds. By staying adaptable, optimistic, and positive, you can create more opportunities for lightning to strike. So, take each twist and turn as it comes. Who knows, you might get lucky as today's fortune says, "This week, embrace change as a chance for growth."