DO YOU HAVE GOOD LUCK? BAD LUCK? OR NO LUCK AT ALL?

Apparently, the concept of luck has been with humans for a really long time. I hadn't even thought of that until I looked for a symbol to illustrate this post. This one combines several cultures.

So, what is "luck"?  According to my dear friend Webster, Luck is: 1. The seemingly chance happening of events which affect one: fortune; fate.
2. good fortune, success, etc. (hmm. should a dictionary be allowed to use the term etc. ?   It seems that when you're business is to define something, that's a cop out. Anyway) 

The rest goes on to use some colloquialisms, and to define lucky, which is basically the same, but an adjective.

I like that it said, "the seemingly chance" happening. This would suggest, at least to me, that they are hedging their bets and not saying that luck is definitely random.           And it would seem not be all that random.

I'm not looking that up. It means by chance, with no design and completely by happenstance.



 


That being said.  I've read about at least three or four people who have won the big lottery twice. TW#ICE!!

When I lived in NY I sent in money to play a buck a week for a year. In that year, I won $1. That was it. I'm sure you know friends who get those quick picks or whatever games they have and often win something. They get more money and usually give it back.  That's the part that doesn't seem so random. But I digress.

What kind of luck do you think you have? Or should I ask what you feel you have?  Sorry, I had to throw that in.

 I have given luck some thought.  I believe there are many different types of luck. Some examples are good luck, good bad luck, bad luck, terrible luck, no luck and as I write, I'll probably think of some more.

Personally, I think I have good, bad luck. You'll no doubt need an example.


Good luck, is never having a flat tire. Good bad luck, is having a flat tire in your driveway, or in the olden days, in front of your school where you could make a phone call and stand outside in the rain for 40 minutes.  Yeah, maybe that wasn't so lucky.  Bad luck is having a flat tire in the ghetto very late at night without a cell phone or gun. And probably being a person who is white.
No luck, is not having a car.

I think you might be getting the idea.  I think some of it does depend upon your attitude. You can choose to see all negative things as bad luck, or karma or fate, or you can look at the positive side to it and feel better about what happened.

You also can help your luck just like anything else. It is true, you have to be in it to win it. You can't say you never got a job if you never applied. Right?

I will grant you that some people just seem to have a shit load of bad luck dumped on them. It's hard for me to understand sometimes because I haven't dealt with those types of things. You know, being homeless and jobless.

I do know some people though who seem to have a hand in their bad luck.  You know, gambling or drinking the mortgage money. Some people have a disease that if not checked, will contribute to lousy luck. Everyone knows people like this. We all think we know how to help them, if they would only listen to us, they could get out of the mess. And sometimes that's true.

We also know that people don't listen to advice and maybe they need to experience this shit so they can learn something. At least I hope so. I'd hate to see so much suffering for no reason.

 

As I'm writing this, I started to think about one of the words I used. Karma.  Back to Webster. In Sanskrit, it meant fate. In Buddhism & Hinduism, a person's actions in one reincarnation thought of determining his fate in the next.


Even if you don't believe in reincarnation, you might understand that when things seem to be bad luck, they may be the universe or God's way of challenging you. Having bad things happen, losing, making mistakes, these are how we all learn. So maybe it's a teaching method.



One thing I do know is that there are very few things in this world that I have any control over.  Someone I love dies. I need surgery. You need surgery. Your house burns down. The list is endless.

The only thing you have control over is how you see it. Your attitude. My attitude. That's it.

One of my favorite quotes is by Aldus Huxley, he said, "Experience isn't what happens to you, it's what you do with what happens to you". (I was close)

           

ANSWER TO THE TITLE QUESTION:

You have, whatever kind of luck, you believe you have.  You can take that to the bank.