Luck by Chance

What role does luck play in our life? Does everything in life happens according to a pre-written destiny on which we have little or no control? Or do we choose the course of our life through our attitude and actions and there is no role of luck in it? There are strong opinions on either side of this topic.

One school of thought favors destiny, and they site several examples to support their argument:

• Two brothers put in the same effort under similar circumstances, but one become much more successful than the other.
• A farmer puts in a lot of effort to grow a crop and a spell of rain spoils it all. Is it not luck?
• At times, astrologers are able to predict future events with great accuracy, which supports the concept of destiny. 

Another group of people are strong supporter of  your own attitude and efforts, and they have equally strong arguments:

• Nothing is achieved without hard work. Just the luck alone can not make you successful if you do not put in efforts.
• History is full of examples of great men and women who have attained success with positive attitude and hard work despite all odds. 
• "As you sow, so shall you reap", hence you need to work for what you want to get in life.
•  You can face and come out of most adverse circumstances in life with your own hard work.

Which one of them is correct? I believe that both of them are right and their is no conflict in it. It would be wrong to deny the existence of destiny, however, we can not underestimate the impact of positive thinking and action in life.

Imagine a situation that you are swimming in a river to go somewhere. The flow of river is your luck and the swimming strokes is your action. When luck favors you, you swim with the current and can go very fast. When the going is not so good, you swim  against the current and have to put in much more effort for the same outcome. Even if you do not make any attempt and leave everything to luck, the drift in the river current will take you somewhere, but it may or may not be where you want to reach. eg you may want to just cross the river, but the current may take you away to somewhere else.

So, ideally you should put in effort at a time when luck is on your side for best outcome and there is no point working hard when the time is not right. This one idea has taken root in our minds so strongly, that most of us flock the astrologers to find the "right time" or muhurt to do anything important - be it start of a business, marriage ceremony, housewarming, travel, etc. with a hope that we get the luck on our side. This is normally harmless but acquires a serious dimension in some cases when you find people postponing important decisions in his business or life endlessly due to such considerations of "timing".

This situation can be compared to stock markets. If only I can learn to time the stock markets well, I can buy when the stocks are low, and sell when they are high and get super rich quickly. But it is a common wisdom that you can not time the stock market accurately. The best way to get the most out of stock market is to follow "Systematic Investment Plan" or SIP. Without worrying about the ups and down of the market, keep on investing in it on a regular basis. Chances are, you will hit many pockets when the market is at the right level, and will have a cost averaging effect to maximize your gains in the long run. If you do not make an investment waiting for the right time, you can not have any gain no matter how high the market rises.

I strongly believe in fortune, but also know that I have no control over it, and my thoughts and actions are the only things under my control. There is no point trying to time your luck. Just keep doing a SIP of effort in your life, and while you would hit good times and bad times, you will still be a net gainer if you are investing efforts regularly. In other words, you can get lucky if you work hard.

Do you agree or disagree with this opinion? Let me know in your comments.

The best way to predict your future is to create it - Abraham Lincoln