Lucky for Some?

Does luck exist?

For many people, the answer is 101% NO. And for others: well you know the answer: luck is alive and well and their key to happiness and prosperity. If you do not believe in luck, read no further: what is the point? If life is terrible, maybe you believe that’s the way it is: nothing to be done. And if life is great: and success and happiness is part of life without luck, this is fine too.

To my mind: every mindset which helps with being happy, healthy and prosperous is an advantage. And to ‘think lucky’ is to be blessed with an excellent attitude. The attitude of success can be worked out and if worked at: will become active. I think a year of thinking with the right mindset and a lucky attitude can make life more enjoyable.

Accident or Circumstance?

Those who do not believe in luck must believe in circumstance. Charlie forgets his car keys and has returned to the house to find his keys. He did not put them in the hall table draw last night because he’d argued with the manager before leaving work and his mind was fuddled. He didn’t follow his evening routine, the car keys were left on a kitchen work surface. Now he’s late: and he’s going to be behind time for everything today. Anyway, he’s on his way now: best hurry up. Another driver is not paying attention to the traffic lights and passes through red. Bang! Charlie, who is less than five minutes late, is hit by the red light chancer. Within an hour he is in the emergency operating theatre fighting for life. Is this an accident, circumstance or unlucky? His wife knows he is an unfortunate man: life never goes well for him. His luck is about to worsen, as she’d decided to divorce him last week, his moaning and negative attitude is ruining her life.

Sarah has forgotten her car keys. She doesn’t know where they are: but this doesn’t matter they’ll be in the lounge somewhere. Now she’ll be late for work: no problem, she’ll laugh it off: everyone in the office know’s Sarah will more than make up for being late. Everyone loves her ‘go for it’ attitude, anyway no one’s going to dismiss her for lateness, she’s the best salesperson in the company. On the way to work, she is slowed down by an accident at the traffic lights. Sarah is well aware of this danger spot: and never takes chances here. Another chancer has passed through at red: goodness the guy on the stretcher doesn’t look too good. Bet he was thinking about his problems and not his driving. Sarah remembers attending an advanced driving course paid for by her company. She took the course seriously and attentively listened to the police instructor: ‘There is no such thing as an accident: a collision between two or more cars: or a vehicle being driven without our care and attention is a sequence of events. Everyone involved is part of an incident, not an accident. By learning advanced driving techniques, you’ll have a better chance of avoiding a traffic incident’. The instructor taught students how to look into the road, look for shadows and through the car in front windows to see the road ahead. As she drives by this incident: she thinks about the times she’s seen drivers take a chance and drive through red lights at this junction. That guy wasn’t unlucky, and he just did not read the road and anticipate the danger: worse of all he’ll have seen poor drivers gamble on red time and again.

Sarah has enjoyed so much luck in her career. She attends meetings, takes every opportunity to go on courses and seminars. Although she is not the brightest spark: she is enthusiastic and her desire to be successful and without debt is key to her happiness. A few work colleagues say she’s just plain lucky. But Sarah makes her luck, seeking the good in everyone, talks to people who know more and is prepared to accept her faults and own up if she is part of a failure. Something which doesn’t happen very often.

Think about the two examples:

And you’ll realise luck can be considered as a mindset or state of mind. If one considers the word and interprets it with care, and then begins to look for fortune, and lucky opportunities, life becomes better to negotiate. One has to be in it to win it: people who think themselves as lucky play the lotto and occasionally win a prize. But remember the lotto is a game of chance, and the lucky individual believes chance and luck are the same. Like every gamble, don’t play if you cannot afford the stakes: just like the driver who injured Car Crash Charlie earlier. A lucky person attempts to weigh up the odds and if they are too great will not enter the competition. An unlucky individual weighs up’s the odds and chances it: and when it goes wrong Car Crash charlie’s end up paying the surgeons wages.

Although one could argue all life is a chance and ruled by outside influence and circumstance:

Old Joe is a smoker, drinks too much, and loves his fatty foods. Do you know? He’s 96 and still working, everyone thinks he’s lucky with his health. Dr Josephine knows Old Joe is not fortunate. He’s just an unexplainable statistic, because, for every one of the Old Joe’s, there are twenty smoking, alcoholic and obese people who die between sixty and sixty-five. It is no use looking at the rare individual: best review the reality. Excess and self-abuse limit the enjoyment of, and length of life.

Sarah enjoys a glass of red wine each evening, and she prefers to eat a Mediterranean Diet. Every day she walks at least two miles. Most evenings Sarah meditates and reads romantic novels. Yes, she knows it’s a little boring, but she works hard and switching off is an excellent way to relax. Her mother lives the same way, and her mother’s nearly ninety. Dr Josephine knows Sarah and her mother are not lucky, their health is explainable and she could show you many people living well and living to great ages.

Make Your Luck?

People who believe in luck are usually lucky. If they were not fortunate (is fortune luck?) then surely they would be unsuccessful? And this is an exciting consideration. Lucky people do not see poor outcomes or failure as being unlucky. They mostly perceive setbacks as setbacks and don’t worry about anything longterm. Objectives that are slow to come too fruition are fine: they know patience is sometimes needed before good results are seen. Relationships which do not work out are acceptable: everyone cannot like us: ‘Nothing personal’ they’ll say ‘It’s the way things turn out’.

Car crash Charlie will always encounter difficult situations. He’ll not learn from the accident, believing he was at the wrong place, wrong time and the driver was an idiot. At the moment he’s sitting in a hospital ward thinking about the insurance compensation. Simultaneously, a traffic investigator is looking at the speed camera photo of Charlie driving at 44 miles an hour 300 meters before the junction. The investigator has decided Car Crash Charlie is a contributory factor to the accident: that’s the end of his high compensation claim. Is our Charlie an unlucky fellow or just a fool? You decide.

Luck involves three facets:

1. Knowing one is lucky
2. Having gratitude for every fortunate outcome
3. Being patient for situations to manifest

Why not buy a lotto ticket tonight?

Ian Timothy