Luck
Has Nothing To Do
With It!
By Michael Vernon
Have you ever tried to pick up a tomato
seed? Attempting to explain luck is a lot like trying to pick up a tomato
seed. You can put your fingers on it, but you can’t quite grab a hold on
it. There are probably more questions about the nature of luck than there
are answers.
To start with, can we agree that luck is
an experience? If so, then what is the initiator of luck before it
manifests as an experience? What is the essence of luck, be it good luck
or bad luck? What are the pre-existing conditions necessary for any type
of luck to occur? And when luck is not good, how does luck “know” to be
bad? Additionally, is there a limited supply of luck? That is, to
question, why is luck like a controlled substance, delivered in doses?
What is the prescription for acquiring good luck consistently? And, who
do you have to pay for protection from bad luck?
We can’t see luck until it has resulted
in an outcome. Luck is not tangible, we can’t touch it. We can’t demand
luck and have it obey. Hoping to be lucky is just plain hopeless. Luck is
not fair and sometimes it may appear unjust. Just the same, everyone seems
to agree that luck exists. Also most people are okay with the fact that
luck seems to bless some more than others. The old saying, “I’d rather be
lucky than good”, is profoundly lame. We can control being good. We can
develop a talent. We can commit to excellence. We can strive for success.
We can dedicate to a passion. However, we cannot grasp luck by the nape of
the neck and have it show up at three o’clock on Wednesday. Why wish to be
at the whim of luck? Isn’t it better to be great and in control of life?
If you have been a reader of P4K for a
while, you probably know my feelings about the subject of luck. I don’t
believe in luck. I don’t believe in accidents, coincidence, or
happenstance. I believe that there is a purpose to life and everything
happens for a reason. I believe the energy of the present moment
influences our reality. It is not about being fair and everyone getting
the same treatment. I believe in spirituality. I believe that we are here
to have the experience necessary for a spiritual evolution fueled by
metaphysical properties. What I refer to as “energy and applied
metaphysics”.
Recently, while driving in my truck, I
listened to a radio program that attempted to explain the phenomena of
luck. I know, huh, there are still some people who connect to the world
with antiquated forms of technology like radio, and even on-line
newsletters. The theme of the program focused on why some individuals
seemed to be luckier, compared to less fortunate others, labeled unlucky.
My interest perked up as the program
addressed luck as an experience, described as the result of happenstance
or coincidence. The experience of luck as happenstance or coincidence
produces the ecstasy, the euphoric high of a childhood like experience.
Take the example of when someone wins a lottery ticket for a lot of money.
Although I can agree with the thrill of winning, the notion that luck is
delivered on the wings of happenstance and coincidence is simply a
cop-out. We are not powerless wimps, standing in mass, with out stretched
arms, hoping for a euphoric crumb to fall into our warm palm, compliments
of “life’s mythical benefactor, luck”. I was not impressed by this
explanation of luck being an emotional experience falling out of the sky
onto the head of Henny Penny. (Dumb cluck with dumb luck… pun intended.)
Never-the-less, I continued to listen with interest, waiting for the lucky
explanation that would debunk my flawed skepticism of luck.
As the program continued, I caught myself
wondering if perhaps I had given luck a bad rap. I began to process what I
was hearing and I tried to reconcile the notion of coincidence causing
euphoria. I flashed back to a time of feeling euphoria as a child. I can
still recall the feeling very clearly. “Why can’t every day be like an
eight year old child’s Christmas?” Is lucky just an adjective used to
describe what happens when a person has a euphoric experience as a result
of happenstance or coincidence? Is it just a word to explain the
unexplained occurrence when fortune befalls the unexpected or undeserving?
Is luck simply the “feeling” Homer Simpson has upon discovering two
doughnuts in the employee break room?
I was still driving while listening to
the program, when I experience one of those separations of consciousness
between driver, truck, and road. I was on auto pilot, detached from
conscious driving while pondering luck. Yet, I managed to keep the truck
on the road without threat to life or limb, (lucky, I guess). I snapped
back to the present moment when I heard the comment that “luck was neither
good nor bad”. In fact, in many cultures, “good luck” is never expressed.
Luck is simply referred to as just “luck”, or “suerte”, for example. The
word good is omitted. In these cultures, the meaning of luck is more like
a positive intention. Saying “luck” is a concentrated statement in one
word, expressing good will. “G’donya”, comes to mind if you’re from
Australia, meaning, “Good on you”, to acknowledge a positive attribute.
Upon hearing that “luck is neither good
nor bad” I listen closer, and I turned up the volume. I have long held a
belief that metaphysical energy is without prejudice, neither good, nor
bad. “Metaphysical Energy” is expressed as a high or low without
conditional judgment. It is simply identifying the forces behind an
experience. I pondered what was being said on the radio. It dawned on me
that perhaps, just maybe after all of these years of saying that I do not
believe in luck, that I had it right in a wrong sort of way. Can it be
that luck and energy are synonymous? Does it all boil down to semantics
and one’s interpretation of the meaning of words?
Regarding good or bad luck, one can
easily tell a story of happenstance and simply substitute the word energy
for the word luck, with high and low instead of good and bad. Be it high
or low, good or bad, an experience comes down to timing. Timing is a basic
metaphysical premise of being in the right place, at the right time, with
the right action. Is it just lucky, or does it have to do with being
aligned with the energy, and not victim to happenstance or coincidence?
Being on the “stage of life” represents
being in a scene or setting in the present moment, and we are the actors.
On the best night, an actor’s energy is at its highest. However, luck has
always been measured in terms of the end result. The out come is usually
measured in terms of winning versus losing. Is the measure of luck
subjected to judgment and the degree to which one is thrilled or
disappointed? If you happen to be a football fan and watched the Patriot /
Bronco game, Sunday Night Football, November 24th, you
witnessed a good example of the metaphysical energy of right place, right
time, with the right action.
Is luck a judgment of an experience, tied
to emotion, to explain how and why the unexplained could have occurred?
Heaven knows, we must have an explanation for things, or go mad for not
knowing. Consider the outside chance that maybe the way life is
experienced is a factor of a person’s energy. That is to say, a person’s
energy, and their combined thoughts and beliefs, directly influence the
resulting reality. Could it be that life’s experiences are drawn to us,
for a purpose, as a result of our personal metaphysical energy? Everything
happens for a reason. We learn from the lessons we experience, or we are
bound to repeat them. I am suggesting that to determine the outcome of an
experience to be a result of good luck or bad luck is a judgment, and not
necessarily in alignment with the spiritual evolution and highest good of
the individual. Who is to say what is good or bad for your life’s path,
based on an experience of happenstance? Often evaluating the outcome ends
in confusion and mystery. Instead, could we come to accept the fact that
the way things are, is the way they are, no judgment. Quoting the last
line of the movie, Karma Sutra, “Life is right in any case.”
In conclusion, thinking now that luck
could be a synonym for energy, to wish someone good luck is like giving a
blessing. Kind of like saying, “Take care, see you later, drive
carefully.” In those words, the energy is bestowed upon the other person
to have “good fortune” for safety. “My dear friend, may the spirit of
positive energy be with you on your journey, and may it deliver you safely
to your home.” In a text message, just send “GL bub”. Upon receiving the
blessing, it is then up to the receiver of the “luck” to take the
appropriate action. Driving safely or diving crazily, for example, is a
choice. With any luck, (energy) they arrive safely at home. With any luck,
they narrowly miss driving off a bridge. High energy, low energy, is it
just “luck”? If they drive off the bridge is it bad luck, or bad driving?
Maybe it was just icy conditions and bad tires. Still, is it luck, energy,
or human error?
So, my dear tomato seed, with all of this
to think about, in the spirit of Dirty Harry, “Do you feel lucky?”
Luck has nothing to do with it when you
are Playing 4 Keeps™
Buenos Suerte Mi Amigo!
Copyright ©2013 Michael Vernon
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