June 15, 2006

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  This is a topic entry for   Internet Island’s Topic #13: LUCK, both GOOD and BAD. Click the link for more entries listed in the comments section of the topic entry. Links to individual entries are also at the top of this page under the WhenWordsCollide banner.

  
  

  “Good luck needs no explanation.” Shirley Temple Black
  “Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
  “Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.” William Shakespeare
  “Each of my days are miracles. I won’t waste my day; I won’t throw away miracle.” Kelley Vicstrom
  “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.” Thomas Jefferson
  “Impossible situations can become possible miracles.” Robert H. Schuller
  “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit.” R. E. Shay
  “Luck never gives; it only lends.” Swedish Proverb

  
  

  Luck Quotes courtesy of About.com

  
  

   

  
  

  On the main page to my personal website, AllThingsMike, I have written: “I’ve been blessed with a charmed life, unaffected by the tragedy and mistrust which govern most lives.” Actually, my life has been no more charmed nor affected by tragedy than the lives of most people. We are all visited by luck both good and bad. I never really considered “luck” to be the result of my life’s endeavors, nor it’s cause. I believe, as in the Tom Jefferson quote above, that “good luck” is the result of hard work. I believe we all create our own destinies. This isn’t to say that there isn’t a sense of kismet or serendipity in our lives either. I believe, as do most people, that life is a series of both planned episodes and happy accidents, and of course accidents that are not so happy either.

  
  

  For the most part, each of our lives can be considered lucky from the beginning. I know this for a fact. My twin died in childbirth. It could have been me who perished. From our births, we are lucky to have survived the trip from the womb to existence. Those of us who make it could be considered lucky. I will explain that most of my subsequent life has been comprised of happiness, tragedy, and planning. Sometimes the planning causes the happiness. Sometimes bad planning causes the tragedies. I will always believe I’m the architect of my own existence, but I know too that serendipitiy has the power to change everything in an instant. If I survived a car wreck, or got through an operation without any problems, I could realize that luck might have a bit to do with the outcome, since I have known people who have perished in auto wrecks and on the operating table.

  
  

  I prefer to think I’ve received more good luck than bad. I’m not particularly superstitious. I have a black cat, and don’t ever mind her walking in front of me. I do pay attention to Friday the 13th, and I don’t try to force any issues concerning having either good or bad luck. For the most part, if something good happens in my life, then I feel as if I have it coming, and if something bad happens, I think I must have done something wrong. Life, like everything else in the Universe, is a mixture of predestination and fate. I don’t think either one or the other is in charge of the situation, and the ability to live in a somewhat enlightened state is the ability to understand that we can think we are totally in charge of our own fate but that something completely unexpected can change that life in an instant.

  
  

  I’ve written before about my ex-girlfriend Pat and her insistence that she was going to be incredibly lucky. She spent a lot of money betting on horses and buying lottery tickets. She used to get incredibly upset when she didn’t win the lottery or the horse didn’t cross the finish line first. She was so positive that good luck would meet her with arms outstretched that when it never happened, week after week after week, this colored her view of reality, and made her life a bit of  a hell. I would go to the horse track with her,  but I didn’t get that upset when I didn’t “get lucky”. In fact, every summer when the L.A. County Fair opens, I usually go, and the Fair has a horsetrack. One time a year, I bet on two or three races, in memory of the many times I used to  bet the ponies with Pat. I haven’t won anything in this way. I just went last year, and I bet on three races, and tore up my tickets along with all the other losers. It didn’t bother me in the least, and I had fun watching the races, even when my horse didn’t come in.

  
  

  I used to think I wasn’t too “lucky in love” but this past year has proved that I may in fact be the luckiest person in the world in this area.

  
  

  Throughout my life, I’ve looked for love, and I’ve been in countless relationships which last about three months or so. I would have to say, that barring anything more wonderful to happen in my life, and I’m only 53, so hopefully have a lot more life to live, the “luckiest” thing to ever happen to me was meeting my present girlfriend, Liz (The_Queen_of_Swords). First of all, I “met” her because she and I both write Xanga blogs. She happened to see a comment I left on a site to which I subscribed, and she visited me, and commented. In her first comment, she dropped an invitation to get together, since we both live in Southern California. We met a month or so after our intitial correspondence, and as of last September, which was six months after we met and became friends, we naturally flowed into our present relationship, which is the best relationship I’ve ever had with anyone. I call Liz my lover, my best friend, and my soulmate.

  
  

  Meeting and getting to know her is pure luck. Of course, I could say that luck wasn’t involved at all. Perhaps we were “fated” to meet. I knew I loved her in the beginning because she was interested in me, but we spent our first six months as friends. We have an age gap of over 20 years, but so far this hasn’t bothered either of us, and to my knowledge it doesn’t bother her family, whom I’ve gotten to know quite well. First we would go on “excursions”. Then the excursions became dates. Now we usually see each other every week, spending most of Sundays together. At some time in the future I hope we can move in together, find a house or apartment close to the beach, and set up housekeeping. I don’t see anyone else in my life right now that has had a more positive effect on my existence, and when I’m feeling low, I think of Liz, and everything gets better.

  
  

  Luck? Kismet? Who knows. Or cares, really. The great thing is that we found each other. I’ll say it’s the Best Luck I’ve ever had. We grow closer each passing month. The poor gal broke her leg eariler this year, and we have worked around her injury, and had to postpone some plans to travel until she heals a bit more, but this has not stopped us from enjoying our time together. I feel more blessed than I have in decades, because of my relationship with Liz. So far, in over a year of knowing each other, we have never quarrelled, and we usually are on the same wavelength about most of our ideas. We rarely disagree, and we  have developed a healthy love and respect for each other. If luck plays favorites, I’ve been incredibly lucky because of meeting Liz. I’m forever thanking my “Lucky Stars”.

  
  

   Check out our shared “Internet Serendipity” site. I haven’t posted an entry there all year, but Liz just posted one about our tirp to the Norton Simon Museum last Sunday.

  • 8:33 am
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