Luck Or WTF?

Did you know that this week, Tuesday, I think, was 711, also known as Free Slurpee day. What are the odds, right? Anyway, I hope you all were lucky enough to grab a delicious frozen cup of high fructose corn syrup and red dye number 40. I know I was. I mean, point me to free anything and I'm there. But if you missed out, hey, better luck next year. Speaking of luck, though, what do you say we delve a little deeper into it today? Do you guys believe in it? And if so, how big or small of a role do you think it plays in our society today?

Regardless, last week we were talking about free will, fate and destiny. So luck was a natural next choice for a topic, mainly because to me, if you believe in luck, you can't really believe in fate. And if you tuned in last episode, you know, I am a person who believes everything happens for a reason.

I mean, look at it like this. The actual definition of luck is the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen to you by chance, and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities. Chance really being the key word there.

So if you feel like you just happen upon something, such as a favorable outcome by luck of the draw by chance, you wouldn't really subscribe to the idea that you were faded or destined to come into it. By an outside power or your own. Some would say I got lucky because I was destined, say, to have that job, or I'm so lucky I was faded to win the lottery. But in reality, there are two totally different concepts. It's random occurrence versus predetermined occurrence. At the end of the day, you simply can't be lucky if it was ultimately planned to go that way, because it's just not random. You feel me? To me, it's not luck. It's more so destiny or feat. And while both phenomenons occur in a space that's completely outside of our own control, it's contradictory to think they can coexist. When people think of luck, right, so often they get this picture in their heads of, like, the little green leprechaun, the pot of gold, the rainbow. People think luck and think fantasy, because for so many, that's all it is. So many of us go through life struggling, barely scraping by, making our own way. It just seems the idea of luck can often downplay the hard work it took for many of us to get where we are. And to me, that just doesn't seem fair. From where I'm standing, it makes more sense to attribute positive things that happen in our lives to either our own hard work and determination or a higher power with the divine plan, whichever one you choose to subscribe to. But randomized happenstance? Nah bruh.

and even negative outcomes aren't really exempt. The idea of bad luck falls under the same descriptive categories. And while there is truly no good or bad, as we know, there is a certain benefit in believing there is.

Like, have you ever heard the phrase luck is where preparation meets opportunity? Well, if you haven't, it's a well known quote attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca. I've always taken a particular interest in that statement, not just because it attempts to explain such a nuanced topic, but because it's also a call to action. You see, things, whether they're good or bad, don't happen by chance. We attract what we want, manifesting our individual realities, and they come to be if it's in accordance with a predetermined end. Basically, we have to work hard for what we want, not just hope to luck up.