There is no recorded instance of me regretting going out to the driveway. Not once. And I still argue with myself about it every week, which tells you something about how much that argument is actually worth listening to.

The games didn't create the connection. They're the reason nobody left before it could happen. Without them that night ends when the plates get cleared, around 7:00, everybody says what a nice time they had and drives home.

There is a Living Lucky® framework for this, and my mom ran it without knowing it had a name.

Vision comes first. Not a mood, not a general direction. A specific Point B you can say in one sentence. Most people can describe what they do not want in enormous detail and go vague the second you ask what they actually want. She got specific. Atlanta.

Agency is next, and it is the honest part. What are the obstacles, internal and external, and where do you have a choice you have been pretending you do not have. That is the question that ends most two-year holding patterns, because usually the choice was available the entire time and the waiting was the thing being chosen.

Momentum comes last, and it is the reward. Clearing the house. Listing it. Buying before selling. Each action creating evidence, and the evidence making the next action easier.

Before you fold your hand, let's peek at what's hiding beneath the table. Because remember, the most spectacular magic tricks often happen under the cloak of misdirection.
The Illusion of Blind Spots: We focus on the face-up cards, the bills piling up, the hours bleeding into each other, and miss the subtle shifts in the corners of our vision. The unexpected opportunity winking from a side street. The chance encounter that ignites a hidden spark. We're so fixated on our own deck, we forget to look at the bigger game.