Matt Kelsey (www.fox4kc.com)
A Missouri man down on his luck is looking for some good fortune this year, and he's hoping to get it from a cookie – or 365 cookies to be exact.
Writer Matt Kelsey has decided to live out 2011 based entirely on what he reads in fortune cookies.
"My plan is simple: I am going to buy 365 fortune cookies. Starting on Jan. 1, 2011, I will open one fortune cookie per day. If the fortune is an instruction of some kind – i.e., 'Share a secret with a close friend this week' – I will follow the instruction to the letter. If it is truly a fortune – i.e., 'A song will provide inspiration,' I will listen to the universe's cosmic signs and look far and wide for a meaning in the message," he wrote on his blog, www.mydailyfortune.blogspot.com. Additionally, I will buy one lottery ticket per day with the lucky numbers on the back of each fortune."
Kelsey, who was laid off from his job as a newspaper editor, says he thought up the idea in November when a collection agency called about a medical bill while he was enjoying a meal of Chinese food with his wife.
"We owed more money on our house than it was worth, and because our "property value" had supposedly increased, the mortgage bill was going up nearly $100 per month. Jamie's student loans were racking up, too. And now we had a $3,000-plus debt due immediately," he writes on his blog. "The situation wasn't pretty."
That's when Kelsey says he noticed the fortune cookie on his lap and decided to take a crack at karma.
"Most fortunes I've read try to pass along a positive message – basically, be nice to your fellow man, and you'll be rewarded in the end. I can't see anything wrong with following that dictum for one year. I don't expect to strike it rich in the lottery, but if I'm giving myself wholeheartedly to this project, buying a daily lottery ticket with the lucky numbers seems like the right thing to do," he wrote.
Kelsey plans to share all of his fortunes and findings on his blog for anyone who wants to join him on his sweet journey.
And he says while the idea may seem strange, it's already affecting his life in a positive way.
"I'm looking for things in my day so definitely it's changed the way I go about life," he told Fox4KC.com.
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