OUR BLOG

…or unlucky

Can we be honest here?

There are a lot of things we don’t … and never will … understand.

A few examples:

• Why do bad things happen to good people?
• A tiny, nearly weightless snowflake falls on a mountainside after billions have fallen before it, yet it’s the one that triggers the avalanche.  Why?
• According to quantum physics, “an electron can occupy a superposition of different orbital states simultaneously, meaning it can be in multiple states at once until measured.”  Huh?  Talk about not understanding!

This apparent randomness in the world can make us uneasy, so we look for quick and easy explanations for why things happen.

This is where luck enters the equation.

Luck is a construct humans created to help explain the inexplicable … the randomness of events.

There’s no rational basis for believing in such a thing as luck.  By definition, it’s a form of superstition …  that which stands outside the realm of logic.

But wait … WAIT … you might say, clearly some people are more fortunate than others, like the guy who plunks down a couple of bucks at a convenience store in Wisconsin for a lottery ticket and wins half a billion dollars. Is he not lucky?

Well, yeah, fortune has smiled upon him.

We get that phrase from the Romans who believed the goddess Fortuna was responsible for one’s good fortune … or bad fortune.

Saying he was lucky implies that there’s some force in the universe … like Fortuna … causing good or bad things to happen.

It’s assigning meaning to a random occurrence.  But hey, it’s a quick, low- thought explanation.  Why not go with it?

At least four reasons.

One … Who can say what constitutes good luck and bad with any assurance? How you assess your luckiness depends on the circumstances … and the unfolding of events over time.

A man leaves a bar totally sloshed.  He gets in his car and smashes into a woman who’s stopped in a line of traffic.  Is she unlucky?  By most people’s reckoning … yeah.

Is the drunk unlucky?  After all, he’s driven home drunk hundreds of times and never been in a wreck, but in his mind, it’s just his lousy luck to run into somebody.

She walks away uninjured … and her lawyer gets her twenty grand for her “suffering.”  Is she lucky?

He decides to get sober.  Hmmm … was the wreck actually a stroke of good fortune?

Two … When you believe in luck, you give away your agency.  You’re saying how things turn out for me is not really all that much in my control.  THAT is a bad road to go down.

There’s no real harm in believing you’re lucky, as long as you don’t rely on luck as a success strategy.  On the other hand, never ever believe you’re unlucky. That’s not only fantasy, it’s poison.Say hello to instant, self-imposed victimhood.

Three …  What if rather than hoping to get lucky in life, you more fully appreciate the randomness in life and take whatever actions you can to improve your odds of being safe, healthy, and successful?  In other words, you make your own luck to the greatest extent possible.  Brilliant!

Four …  What if you are actually at cause for what happens by virtue of what you’re thinking and feeling.  Yeah, you know where I’m going with this.  What if leveraging the Law of Attraction by asking for what you want and allowing it to happen can actually help manifest your desired outcomes?

I believe it absolutely can.

So, forget luck and think intention.

Decide what you want.  Ask for it.  Allow it to happen.

Does that sound as mysterious and superstitious as the thing called “luck”?

Yeah, it does.  So, why even entertain such an idea?

Because it works.

It’s worked in my life too many times to recount … and it’ll work for you.

In contrast, relying on Fortuna to deliver so often disappoints.

But WHY?

Hope is passive.  You’re at the mercy of some mysterious force.

Intention is active.  You’re tapping into some mysterious force.

And that’s all you need to know.

Love,

PS. Oh, and does anyone know of a good accountant in NC?

###

If you’d like to subscribe to my newsletter

Request Time With Denise

Meet Denise: Denise Hedges is a Business Development Coach and Speaker Coach for small business owners who want to be more comfortable, confident, and successful with their sales and marketing efforts. She specializes in helping them use speaking as a way to dramatically improve their results

COMMENTS: