Mind Chatter About Luck
During a conversation recently, the word "lucky" was mentioned
and you know how it is when your mind latches onto a word and
throws it around awhile in your thought process. I couldn't help
but explore the word a bit more. Here are a few thoughts from my
musing.
You take a coin and eagerly scratch the coating off the small
ticket that hDuring a conversation recently, the word "lucky"
was mentioned and you know how it is when your mind latches onto
a word and throws it around olds awaiting monetary promises. You
turn to the tv channel that broadcasts the regular ceremony and
apprehensively watch as each numbered ball is chosen and
displayed. You write your name, address and phone number on the
small form and drop it into the slotted box atop the table next
to the shiny, four-wheeled marvel and hope that you're the one
who will soon be its owner. Temptation is everywhere, so close
and yet so far away and all depending on numbers...on
chance...on the luck of the draw.
What makes one person lucky and another not? Does luck swirl
around and land like a deflated balloon on the person nearest
it? Or is luck magnetic and some people happen to have more
minerals in their systems that draw it closer to them? Is luck
dependent on genetic ancestry or is being lucky a learned
quality?
Is being lucky one of those good/bad things? (Bob won the
lottery, but now suddenly, everyone is his long-lost cousin with
their hand out.) Can one be burdened by too much luck?
("What's the matter, friend? You look troubled." "Indeed!"
you say, as you undo the strap and slip off the heavy backpack
you've been carrying around. "That luck sure has been weighing
me down lately.")
Why do we acknowledge "being lucky" as being in it's positive
form? There are, afterall, two types of luck -- good AND bad. Is
it wishful thinking that causes us to connect "being lucky" with
being fortunate rather than being unfortunate, as in if we don't
talk about the bad, maybe it'll go away? Is bad luck ever good
luck in disguise, like a bunch of ingredients that doesn't
appear appetizing at first but becomes a five-star dessert after
it's baked? Is Garth Brook's song true when he sings, "Some of
God's little gifts are unanswered prayers."?
But then if bad luck can morph itself, is there a detecting
device that can alert a person to it's true reality? ("Yes,
see there...it's bad luck...the meter hand is going into the bad
zone!") Can we buy such a device at Wal-Mart?
Do we make our own good luck by socializing more and knowing
more people, as discussed in Richard Wiseman's book, "The Luck
Factor"? Afterall, we do have more power and control over our
lives and the circumstances in it than we might realize.
Some people state that if it wasn't for bad luck they'd have no
luck at all. Could this be so? Do they perhaps need more
minerals in their system or an uncloaking mechanism to be able
to decipher the bad luck from what may actually be good in
disguise? One thing is certain, we can't leave it to 4-leaf
clovers, charms and horseshoes to do all the work. Besides, what
iron setting do you use when you press your luck?