Looking luck's way

Baffled about destiny and reality? Ishani Ranasinghe helps you to resolve the confusion because life is not all about mere chance. Or is it?

See a penny pick it up; all day long you'll have good luck…

Familiar phrase, don't you think? Of course it is. We have after all heard it in so many movies we have watched.

We live in a society that believes in being lucky and in good luck charms. And I am not attempting to condemn these, because I am all for the four-leaf clover and all those signs that sometimes make you wonder…

So what is it to be lucky? Is it in a charm or do you go make yourself lucky by using the opportunities that are given to you, and making the best out of a bad situation? I figured that this was a pleasant topic to debate on with some people I knew.

First let me tell you what I think about it… I for one, do believe in good luck charms and all that (I even wear a ring that according to my mother is supposed to bring me good luck), but I was once told, given an explanation and made to believe that being lucky has got something to do with the kind of person you are. A bit confused? Let me explain.

It is said that people who think positively about other people and life in general, are more likely to take risks and act subconsciously positive, as opposed to the negative thinkers. This invariably leads to the fact that, these 'positive thinking people' are more open to opportunities than the 'negative thinking people.'

So in a sense we as people in general make our own luck in different ways and in the choices we make. Making not just the right choices, but essentially good choices, will lead you to a better life and more positive feedback from people. Some luck is based on the fate of something that is bound to happen no matter what, and some of it on manipulating your opportunities. Thus we create our own luck by being more open to ideas and opportunities.

A friend of mine, Navid (25) adds that when it comes to your own luck, you for sure make it. He explains that in trying to make your own luck, you take chances that sometime pay off. "The thing with taking these chances is that if you don't take them you will never know what might have happened right? And now that's really unlucky."

While admitting that some people do have better luck or more good fortune than others, Manisha (21) feels that you have to make things happen, to feel lucky. She believes that the more positive you are, the better life will be.

While many positive thinkers feel and believe that it's up to you to make your luck, we also get those people who feel that it's about being born with it or needing some interventions, like Sherine (22) for instance, who says she hopes there is a thing called luck.

"I am still in the hope that I will find some good luck instead of all the bad I seem to be finding," she says, adding with a laugh that if her life has been based on making her own luck, she certainly has done a bad job of it.

Determined to prove me wrong in my theory of what luck is Gayani (22) who after much debate finally asks me, "How can winning millions of money on the lottery be luck you have made?" Noticing my flabbergasted expression, she I must say, is quite triumphant, and you must admit she is right.

I think she just disapproved my whole theory or I thought, until someone came to my rescue. "Some luck you make for yourself, and some others such as winning the lottery is just random luck," said Suresh (22) adding that he also does believe that there are times when he feels that some people are born lucky. "But then why dwell on these things right?" he says with a smile.

Yet another person who also has a bit of an undecided attitude towards luck is Nadine (24) who admits that there are people out there who for some unknown reason are born lucky, "But I really do think that positive thinking helps." She also adds that sometimes the whole positive thinking can be a bit tedious, it really is not that bad when you do 'get lucky.'

"I honestly think it is the glass half empty or half full way of looking at things," says Farah (22) adding that for a long time she used to think that nothing lucky ever happened to her. Looking back, she has now realised that in the past, she has been quite fortunate. "Now I believe that it's your own take on life," she says nonchalantly.

Listening to what all these people had to say, I do think we are all lucky and we all have a chance to have a good life, so what counts is what you make of it. Many believe you need lots of money. Some people realise it's love, caring and understanding one another's needs is what makes you truly happy. I believe that if we have this, we are all lucky – something that makes you truly happy is not a luxury everyone has.

What about having to work for everything else in life? As my friend once put it, look at it this way, we are lucky to be able to just wake up in the morning and say ‘hello world’. Honestly I can't argue with that one.