I wear a trading card in my black fedora. It carries a portrait of Longshot, the lucky little alien from Marvel Comics. I use it as a conversation starter, a way to bridge the age gap and relate to my students, and for its powers.
I believe in luck.
For me, good fortune is simply a skill that some people are learning to develop. I just found some evidence to support my perspective.
From the Portland News Science Examiner, by Halley Delay:
Everyone wants to get lucky; this is just a fact of life. The real problem comes up however when we ask just how can we get lucky. Psychology professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire has spent ten years trying to find out the nature of luck. This research concluded with the idea that people appear to make their own luck.
I adore the surname of the luck scientist, and the article is rather entertaining. For the sake of discussion, I will quote the major findings:
Weisman found that lucky people make their own fortune using four basic concepts. They are adept at finding chance opportunities, or creating their own if they can’t be found, listening to their intuition, expecting the positive, and having a resilient attitude.
Nice principles to live by, no doubt.
I consider myself a "lucky man". My last diary listed ten major personal successes in the last ten years, and aside from the crickets there was this comment by dinazina:
This is the most bragging I've read in a single diary, ever. Almost as much as the annual Xmas newsletter of a distant relative-by-marriage.
Congrats on your superlative life, bye.
My first reaction was prickly quills. I assume that there is a hint of insult in the comment. I quickly remembered my message board breathing techniques and counted to ten.
I wondered. Are we so jaded and cynical that we cannot share our success stories? Have we become a culture of jealous classmates who ridicule the "nerds" who pass the tests of life? Do we only focus on the negative elements of society, and then justify it by claiming that finding problems is the only way to fix things?
I relaxed. Whatever it is that stops some people from being able to celebrate the success of other people was not going to slow me down.
When I found myself with some time to fill by writing another diary despite the reaction to the previous one, I googled "look at the bright side". I found the article about luck. Whatever you think of the concept, whatever you think of the "scientific research" that came to the conclusion, those four concepts will surely help you have a better life.
- Become adept at finding chance opportunities.
Pay attention. If you want more of something, follow the flow. Life is a system to be gamed, and there is always a best time to strike. Put yourself in the right place at the right time as often as possible.
- Listen to your intuition.
This does not involve thinking. It can be optimized.
- Expect the positive.
Very important, impossible to prove. Seriously, you get what you see. Look at the bright side. The thinker thinks and the prover proves. If you think you are going to find tragedy, you will find tragedy.
- Have a resilient attitude.
If nothing can bring you down, you will stay high for the rest of your life.
I need to fly right now, the school computers freeze every afternoon to save energy. I will be home to check comments in twelve minutes, I live three miles from my job!
Lucky me.