Do you believe in luck?

[GDNF2ET]

Luck
From Wikipedia

Luck or chance is fortune (whether bad or good) which occurs beyond one's control, without regard to one's will, intention, or desired result.

[KFC911]

As the saying goes..."It's better to be lucky than good"
My version: "It's better to be lucky and good"

The "gooder" you are the luckier you seem to be...at least that's the way it seems to me...YMMV

[johnco]

I believe I'm lucky.. lucky to survive all the bad luck I have

[wdfifteen]

I was extremely lucky to be born in a country of freedom and opportunity to supportive, caring parents. After that, some things fell my way but none of it was pure luck.

[Halm]

Yes I do believe in luck: The harder you work, the luckier you get.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

+2. You make your own luck by being prepared to act, and recognizing opportunity.

I don't believe in luck, but I do believe in karma.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

KARMA is the force that determines "luck"!

[sc_rufctr]

"Luck favours the bold"

I absolutely believe this.

You want some good luck? Slow down and think about what you're planning. Follow your gut.

When I was 28 I made $170,000 in 10 months on one property deal.
It was a small factory on about four acres in the industrial part of my city. I was cheap because it was vacant and neglected.
The owner had inherited it after his father died. For some reason he was in a hurry to sell.

After I bought it I hired a bulldozer to clean up the land and got rid of the rubbish.
I built a new office area in the main building, painted the building and advertised it for lease.
Once leased I put it on the market and it sold in 6 weeks.

[djmcmath]

Ringworld (brought to you by Nivens and Pournelle) included a subplot where an alien race convinced humans to breed for luck. After 5 generations, they had a number of "successful" lucky people, people that could essentially warp reality in their favor.

(shrug) "Luck" is really just random chance. But if you work hard and are well prepared, you may be more likely to take advantage of "luck" when it happens.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by djmcmath

(shrug) "Luck" is really just random chance.

what if it's not?

[jhynesrockmtn]

I agree with the preparation leads to opportunity but the last two months have had some weird coincidence woo woo things going on that give me pause about luck and fate.

I work in the non profit sector and had become disenchanted with my current gig over the last half of 2012. The Board and I have grown apart.

I took another job at what is essentially a start up non profit micro lending entity. Great concept but between the time I accepted the job and when it started their funding situation changed for the worse and the board cut the 2013 budget in response. They want me to stay and lay off more junior people while taking no senior management cuts. I don't agree.

I received a call the day I started the new gig from a recruiter. What amounts to my dream job was open and she thought of me. They weren't working on the role but had passed my info on to the CEO. Fast forward to yesterday and several conversations, interviews, etc. later and I accepted the job and can gracefully exit the start up.

I've worked hard and am a really good fit for this but the timing is just a bit freaky :-) Oh and 2 days before the offer I was asked by the mom of the kid I mentor to drop him off at one of the new agencies clubs and while out for dinner with him prior to that picked up the local neighborhood paper and the headline story was about the agency. That is the woo woo part. And so it goes.

[jcommin]

We all get lucky once in a while.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by jcommin

We all get lucky once in a while.

We do but can you do things that increase that luck?

[sammyg2]

I will say that I truly believe my life has been blessed. So many things that could have gone wrong didn't.
I was born with certain gifts or talents, but in other ways less so (people skilz fer zample )
So many times things have worked out better than I expected, much better than they really should have.
You can call it luck if we want to, but for me there is no doubt.

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I will say that I truly believe my life has been blessed. So many things that could have gone wrong didn't.
I was born with certain gifts or talents, but in other ways less so (people skilz fer zample )
So many times things have worked out better than I expected, much better than they really should have.
You can call it luck if we want to, but for me there is no doubt.

Pretty much this. I think we live in an interactive universe.

[sc_rufctr]

This should be said... Because of were we live we are all very lucky.
We live in the West and things are setup so that we succeed. We are all also in the top 5% of the worlds income.

Imagine being born and living in Africa, parts of Asia or the Middle East. I bet they don't feel so lucky.

[Baz]

How about having a couple of great parents?

That's something that happened without any input by you.

Would you say that is luck?

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Baz

How about having a couple of great parents?

That's something that happened without any input by you.

Would you say that is luck?

I guess in that regard you could say I was doubly lucky...I was adopted. A common story from then...I the product of a too young girl (maybe a hooker?) and a Marine who didn't make it out of the Pacific. I never had a desire to look up any "birth" relatives. Far as I'm concerned, my parents are the couple who raised me.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

We do but can you do things that increase that luck?

If you accept that "luck" is a force or event beyond an individual's control that affects that individual's fortunes (either for better or worse), then you cannot do anything that increases luck.

If you expand the meaning of luck to include "success", as in you lucked out in finding a job or you were lucky to escape an accident unharmed, then you could increase your luck by being prepared, aware, and in tune with your surroundings.

[nota]

Originally Posted by djmcmath

Ringworld (brought to you by Nivens and Pournelle) included a subplot where an alien race convinced humans to breed for luck. After 5 generations, they had a number of "successful" lucky people, people that could essentially warp reality in their favor.

(shrug) "Luck" is really just random chance. But if you work hard and are well prepared, you may be more likely to take advantage of "luck" when it happens.

TINJ [there is no justice] the ringworld catch phrase

[vash]

no such thing as luck. not as a special magic force out there. nope.