The Everyday Minimalist | Living with less, but only the best

– 17 August , 2012Posted in: Other

“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.” – Coleman Cox, in Listen to this (1922)

Did you ever play the lottery? Gamble in a casino? Did you ever win something by the luck of the draw? I’ve gotta admit, I have really not won much if anything in my life. You could probably say that my odds are very slim! Not that I’m unlucky but I so rarely participate into anything that involves luck.

You’ll never see me buying a lottery ticket. You might seem me in a casino but I’ll be on a tight budget that I consider as “entertainment money” and fully expect to never see again. And all of those free coupons that I get at stores to be entered into a free drawing? I don’t fill them out. Sometimes, my wife does, but I don’t. To me, it’s just not worth it. The way I see it, here is the breakdown:

My Time (fill out forms), Money (buying tickets) And Energy is worth much more than my Expected Winnings.

But then again, the fact that I enter so few contests would also greatly diminish my chances of actually winning something…

And what about successful people? A guy like Mark Cuban. Was he just at the right place at the right time? How about us? In a way, I’m fortunate to have been born in North America, to a loving and stable family that gave me a good opportunity to do whatever I wish. So that is certainly part of it.

Overall Though, Luck Is A Small Part Of It

I sincerely believe that luck will almost never be a big factor. There are exceptions but the reason why I got my job, my friends & family is not by luck. Every day, I do feel like I control my destiny.

Do You Know Anyone That You’d Consider Lucky? Or Even Yourself?

About Pete

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Nathan
Ushi

I am always lucky when I’m in the casinos if I’m super drunk! Seriously. I always win, but only if I’m wasted. If I’m sober, no way.
http://smartliving365.com/ Kathy @ SMART LIving 365.com

Yes! I consider myself very lucky actually. That’s because I tend to think of luck as a way of thinking and behaving. I do agree with you that you should never waste your time going after ANYTHING that you don’t really care about or can afford–but by focusing and staying open to those things that we know we would enjoy–can work to make them more of a reality in our lives. Call it luck or whatever you want–I think that whatever we focus on expends. For anyone who wants to read more of my perspective go to this blog post… http://smartliving365.com/?p=1032
Bryin

Luck, or rather circumstance plays a much bigger role in our lives than most people want to admit. Consider for a moment what the difference between a poor, homeless person is and yourself. Almost always the destitute person is either saddled with some sort of mental illness or substance addiction. Being mentally ill or genetically predisposed to addiction is not something a person controls. It is God’s will or fate or luck or due to whatever higher power a person may believe controls such things.
The same can be said of the other end of the spectrum of the very fortunate. Why are you not rich? Most likely it is becasue your parents were not rich, that is the way the vast majority of the very wealthy become wealthy. As Warrren Buffet puts it, a memeber of the lucky sperm club. The few that actually become rich almost always have some advantages from the start or are “lucky” to find themselves in circumstances that allow them to become rich. For example, Bill Gates would not have been able to become rich (or at least as rich as he is) had he not visited Zerox one day and found the basic prgram that would become Windows. He did not invent Windows, it wa given to him by Zerox. He did see the potenial in it and worked hard to make it what it is today. But circumstances played a tremendous role in his wealth creation.
The control you speak of is for the most part an illusion. Individuals play a role in their sucess or failure but “luck” always plays a role as well.