Luck - I Don’t Believe In It

Post by Merrilyn Monroe @ Moments With Merrilyn

I found a four leaf clover once when I was a child, at least I think I did. I remember many summers at my Grandma Dorothy’s farm, relaxing, lying in the grass, looking through patches of clovers. One summer day, I found one, a real one. I showed it to her, and she told me that I’d found one. It may not have been the correct genus or phylum for a true four leaf clover, but all that matters is that I had been searching for it, and I found one, and I thought it was pretty neat.  I didn’t really feel like I was lucky, I just wanted to find one, based on the legend of Leprechauns and the Pot of Gold. I felt like it was a success.

Now that I’m older and have an adult outlook, I have to say I don’t believe in “Luck”-the kind of luck where “POOF”, things magically appear because “you’re Lucky”. I’ve worked diligently from a young age for what I wanted to achieve, I’ve never expected or depended on anything remotely close to “Luck.”

I feel sorry for the people that spend their lives waiting or gambling for luck. I’ve learned that if you earn it, or strike it rich, there’s not always a happy ending, or a pot of gold where everything is dreamy and peachy.  There are a lot of people that have everything, and still aren’t happy.  I believe in a basic rule; if you try to do good, good will come to you in general. Unfortunately, it’s hard to understand why bad things happen to good people; like cancer, accidents and random mayhem. There is order in chaos, and chaos in order in the universe, and that tests our faith, whatever our faith may be.

I believe that it’s all part of a bigger plan, and our individual plan and the trust we put in ourselves and our beliefs are the key.  If you do nothing, or just exist, that is what you will reap. If you do something, and have a mission, something will happen.  There is no “Luck”, we make our own destiny. It takes strength to deal with the cards we are dealt in this life.  A group of people in a similar situation will handle a hardship differently, some will fight, some will exist, and some will simply give up. A group of people that happen on something they consider “Lucky” will handle it differently; they may share it, fight for it, or even kill for it. Many people without hardships do not appreciate the basic gifts that they’ve been given, which really means that they don’t realize that they are actually….Lucky.

My dad nearly died of dismemberment in a work accident in 1976; he lost his left arm at the elbow among several other serious injuries. I was 7 years old, my sister was 3, and he was only 27.  He had led a good life, and was a hard worker, devoted to providing for his family. He didn’t deserve what happened to him that day. That wasn’t “Luck”, it was a random event, and from it, he grew to teach us values that are ingrained in us today. After he recovered, he bought 240 acres of land by a small lake, and proceeded to build a road, himself, with a D-8 Caterpillar, and built a new home from the bottom up, mostly with the help of friends, my sister and me, and a few subcontractors.  He is the pillar of our family, and there’s nothing that a person with two arms can do, that he can’t-he’ll find a way. 

Nothing is in life is unachievable. It may be tough sometimes, but from him, we learned that we were in control of our own destinies. We don’t like whiners and we don’t believe in Luck.  Mistakes are made, people are human, but if you wait around for Lady Luck to plan your destiny or pull you out of your doldrums, you are missing the strength and spirit that is the most magnificent power we have as humans. That has nothing to do with “Luck”.

P.S. Speaking of luck, did you know fellow Epistolarians, Tracy and Teri just published another book? These gals are some of the funniest, most talented writers I know. That has nothing to do with luck, it's about talent and hard work. 

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Merrilyn Monroe