Life is Fickle – Ride Your Luck

No matter how spiritual people are we all tend to believe at least a little in luck. For some reason, some people seem to do well in life situations we wouldn’t ordinarily reckon they would; conversely, some, whilst deserving every good thing get pain and suffering instead. We’re left scratching our heads momentarily and then we seek to develop an attribution for these apparently ‘chance’ outcomes. I recall quoting Denzel Washington’s, “Luck is where opportunity meets preparation,” but in this instance luck can have little or nothing to do with preparation and planning. Sometimes things work out the way of luck, that’s all.

Luck is variously defined as “a force that brings good fortune or adversity,” or “the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual.”[1] When discussing ‘luck,’ the wisdom of the sages can be sought. What have they said over the centuries? The following statements provide some salient direction:

“One man is better received by one nation than by another, or is more welcome in one city than in another. He finds more luck in one office or position than another, and all this though his qualifications are equal or even identical. Luck shuffles the cards how and when she will. Let each man know his luck as well as his talents, for on this depends whether he loses or wins.” –Balthasar Gracian.

It is easy to attribute all outcomes in life to actions taken or inaction i.e. with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight relating to direct observation. The fact is some people in some situations at some times are destined to fail or succeed, and only some might see it beforehand. Take sporting contests, for example. Not all of the success of the winning team was due to skill, knowledge, or attitude. At least a small percentage of the result is due to the team being ‘the best team on the day’ i.e. some skill advantage; some knowledge advantage; some attitude advantage; and, some more luck.

The 16th Century sage also said, “Follow your guiding star and help it without mistaking any other for it, for that would be to miss the North, though its neighbour (the polestar) calls us to it with a voice of thunder.”

It bodes us really well when we have part of our eye on the overall circumstances, the environmental context, with which we’re placed. It is true wisdom to know the signs of the times and to factor these into life choices--call it luck if we will, it’s integrating the randomness of life with one’s capabilities.

In the context of life calling, the second quotation above means that whilst we must discern where our ‘guiding star’ (imaging this ‘guiding star’ to be our life direction, calling, or devotion) is headed and not impede its trajectory, we’re also to not choose another ill-fated ‘star’ (wrong vocation) even if we’re brought directly to it and it smacks us in the face. It is easy to confuse life callings or choose inappropriate, untimely actions. It is too easy to dilute our way and go many ways simultaneously, and end up going ultimately nowhere.

One could call riding your luck, ‘discernment.’ But we would also need to acknowledge that this type of fortune is transient. We can indeed make our own luck to a certain extent (recalling the earlier Denzel Washington quote) but we must also recognise that our lives are half chance as well. This should motivate us in the breeding of acceptance as a dearly held value. Accept the things we cannot change...

Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

[1] Merriam-Webster dictionary.