Lucky Ducks

A concept that has been on my mind a lot lately is the idea of luck. I wonder: is there any such thing?

I used to believe, unequivocally, that luck was very much in existence. And there are times, certainly that I have felt “lucky,” or “unlucky.” The struggle I am having with branding life situations as such is that it takes much of the responsibility away from the individual and places it on the universe in general. It seems to me to be an apathetic way to live if you choose not to examine how or why the sun is shining on you in a particular moment and dark clouds loom directly over your head in others. Yes, you could just shrug and say “I am lucky today,” or “I am unlucky right now.” But are you really at the mercy of an inexplicable or unknown entity during such times?

The point is that I do not think life is at all arbitrary.

In case you have not noticed, formerly held convictions are becoming undone on a lot of fronts for me lately. Luck happens to be one of the spools currently unraveling.

While this circumstance may superficially seem pessimistic, it is actually the opposite. At least, I do not like the idea of sitting idly and hoping for luck to shine on me. Such a stance illustrates a mindset that I have no role in my luck whatsoever. I like the idea, much more, of having control over my own life—to the point where I can make my own luck.

Am I on glue, or does that not sound much better?

Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” I am staring to understand that if you believe you will be lucky, you will be. Conversely, if you believe you will be unlucky, so too will that be your fate. But you also have to do your part in terms of action, that is to say, it is not enough to simply believe.

So there is another component and that is that you have to be ready to embrace luck so that you can maximize the benefits. You have to be in a particular mindset and you have to make the provisions so that luck can easily meld into your life. When you are ready to greet luck at any given time, then you are also in a position to capitalize on it.

To give a personal example: take the book I am writing. I do not have an agent. I do not know anyone in publishing who has an “in.” I do not know anyone to whom I could phone in a favor. I do not have those things.

Rather, I do not have those things today.

It is entirely possible that tomorrow (or this afternoon, or next week) I could meet someone who is the exact person to facilitate my work. But I have to be prepared for that encounter.

If I choose to sit around lamenting my misfortune at my lack of connections, and to see the books being published right and left that I assess as being poorly written and unoriginal (which I do, by the way-still working on letting go of judgments), I might say, “I am unlucky, and those people are just lucky. How else can I explain this situation? Oh well.” But such a course of (non)action would be unproductive, and draining.

Although, and here is where my perspective may ruffle some feathers: such an attitude would also provide me with a convenient “out,” in terms of not taking responsibility for myself.

It would be far easier to say I am unlucky than it would be to do the work to create my own luck. And I think that is a mindset a lot of people unfortunately choose to adopt.

Yet I would argue that the people whom we view as lucky in our lives probably logged a lot of time on the back end—we just did not see the “before” shot and therefore can opt to believe it never occurred, that these people are somehow blessed, have it easier, are “luckier” than the rest of us.

But are they? I say no. I am choosing, instead, to believe that they learned the lesson I am learning now, and created their own luck.

So back to my personal example: when I might meet the (as yet mythical), person who will help me with the publishing of my book, I will obviously take his or her card. Even so, the card will be of little use to me if I have not set my life up to be prepared for this encounter.

If I was just sitting around with a dream of writing a book, but no proposal, no sample chapters, no fleshed out CONCEPT, then when I finally pulled all my material together to feel satisfied with it enough to show this person, then he/she may have left the company, or may not remember meeting me, or a whole host of other reasons may no longer prove to be in a position to expedite my process. Chance favored me, but I was not prepared. So, dang . . . what am I now? Unlucky, right?

On the other hand, if I am prepared for the encounter, I will take the card. I will go home and in an hour or two have a reasonable document to give to this person. He/she will remember me, as I am fresh in mind. Voila! I am on my way to being a published author due to this chance encounter. Pretty lucky, right?

Now, maybe my writing my book and drafting a proposal for no one seems futile. But the truth is that I am writing for someone, I just have yet to meet that person. I am preparing myself mentally and physically to embrace “luck.”

With regards to luck in general, and not how it pertains to me specifically, I know as human beings disappointments and hurdles are an inevitable aspect of this fun little game we call life. There are times when the odds seem to be particularly stacked against us, when we feel that life is unfair or that we are supremely “unlucky.”

I also know of the human propensity to compare. We see someone else living a life we wish we had and we dub them “lucky.” We see another person whose life seems to be defined by tragedies and misfortunes and we brand them “unlucky.”

But we are not walking in other people’s shoes. We have no idea how hard that “lucky” person worked for what seems to come to them effortlessly. We have no idea of the valuable lessons inherent in the tragedies that befall the “unlucky”—lessons that may make someone look at that very person in the future and marvel at his/her amazing luck. We have no idea what someone else's path is, so try to stop comparing and focus on YOUR path.

So what am I really saying? Do not allow yourself to be a pawn in your own life. You create your own reality, so go create a “lucky” one. I am certainly going to do the same.