Growing up my mother often told to stop thinking so negatively or being negative. For as long as I could remember, I was never a naturally positive or naturally happy person. I wouldn’t call myself a cynic, but I would definitely consider myself to be a pessimist or when I felt like being a real smart ass, a realist. I’ve told my members that I’m not a naturally happy-go-lucky person which they found hard to believe because they always see me happy. The thing is, I have to try hard and get into a happier more positive state of mind before I set foot in the gym. Some days are easier than others, but it never comes naturally. Once I’m there greeting them and talking to them, I feel a bit more positive. After a hard workout, I feel like sunshine and lollipops, but beforehand I’m not.
I’m sure we’ve heard that saying about the power of positive thinking. I’ll be honest. I don’t believe in that. I don’t believe in luck either. Probably because I never felt I had it. You know those people who seem to have it all together and an endless supply of horseshoes up the rear end? Do you consider them lucky? What if they worked their asses off to get it together? As I said before, I don’t believe in luck. What I do believe in is hard work, grit (I love that word. GRIT.), fortitude, and strength. I believe that is what will (usually) get you the good fortune you deserve.
Of course, there are those people who work their asses off day in and day out, and can’t catch a break. And there are those people who don’t deserve ANYTHING but have EVERYTHING. What about them? I’ll just consider them anomalies, even though there are quite a few people out there on either end of the spectrum.
I have never considered myself to be a lucky person nor do I know the “right” people. I’ve had my share of my misfortune. I consider myself accountable for it, but at the same time in hindsight, (although it is easier to say this in hindsight because it is 20/20), I am glad I went through it because it made me a stronger person. Sure I had low points and broke down quite a few times, but I dusted myself off and put myself back together and pushed on. I had no idea what the future would bring or if anything good was coming my way anytime soon, but all I could do was keep pushing.
Anything I have ever achieved in my life has been through what I have mentioned before. None of my professional jobs, including my current one, have ever been through a “connection”. It took almost four years to get my steady job with the federal government. Perhaps I am “lucky” because my job is considerably more secure and has good benefits, but I chose to apply for it. I chose to go through the testing and interviews. I chose to accept the job. Out of all the jobs I had during my co-op experience in university, I enjoyed the government work terms the most. Probably because they were more laid back. 😛 Perhaps you are “lucky” because you are self-employed and you are your own boss. You chose that route for whatever reasons, you took that leap, worked for it and now you reap the rewards.
Love (along with winning the lottery) may be one of the few things that tie in with luck, but even then you still have to work hard at it to make it successful (love, that is)
I think to a certain extent I’ve been lucky especially when it comes to my new life in Canada with my wife. Everything seemed to fall into place but I also had to make my own luck by putting myself out there in order to achieve my goals. I think everything happens for a reason in life.. that I truly believe.
I believe that too. 🙂
I definitely make my own. Sure, I took plenty of risks and they paid off, but my Plan B was always: I can go get some retail minimum wage job at any time (or go to another company as a consultant).
I always preference that I don’t mean to come off sounding arrogant, but everything works out for me in the end. I don’t worry about the day-to-day issues, I just focus on the long-term and when I do that, things always work out for me. For example, a relationship of mine ended and while it did hurt, I took the view that they weren’t the right person for me. Fast forward to now and I have found the love of my life.
When it comes to luck, the “lucky” people are the ones that do the hard work and able to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.
I think when you’re going through rough patches in life, it can be very hard to believe that it will work out in the end. But it usually does. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
I’m not sure I believe in “luck” necessarily, but I do believe in karma to a certain extent. If you work hard and treat other people the way you want to be treated it usually works out in your favor sooner or later.
I feel I’ve been pretty lucky throughout my life. Simply being a Canadian citizen without much of my own choosing is a great fortune already 🙂 There are many people around the world who would sell a kidney to come live here but can’t because of sovereign regulations, political barriers, or lack of financial means. It’s a good feeling to know everything I’ve worked for in my adult life is through my own efforts. At the same time I’m also really fortunate that I grew up in a fair environment where (except the anomalies like you mentioned) success is dependent primarily on work ethic and meritocracy 😀
I, too, enjoy that sense of pride knowing you earned it on your own and that it wasn’t just handed to you. I think it helps you develop good character.
I don’t believe in luck. I have worked for everything I have, and I worked hard! I share the same values as you do.
There are many things that I feel fortunate about – having a good education, a good job, good health, and enough sense to figure most things out. But I wouldn’t say that that was a matter of luck. A lot of it was hard work.
Like you, I’m not a naturally happy-go-lucky person. But I feel like that makes me appreciate the challenges and the rewards a bit more. 🙂
This post made me think of Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. It’s about how we think of success and successful people. Essentially, his argument is that when you look at any successful person, from sports starts to innovators like Bill Gates, if you go far enough back in their histories you’ll find a factor that set them just the slightest bit apart from their peers and allowed them to become ubersuccessful in their respective fields. In other words, it’s REALLY rare that anyone is successful JUST because they worked hard, “made their own luck,” and never gave up (although that does happen) – of course, you do have to work hard but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Gladwell’s book was interesting because I, like you, tend to think that people who are successful “made their own luck” and worked hard for everything. But it made me reconsider that way of thinking by pointing out there is more to it than that. There are more factors in play than just individual drive.