I had a bad day last week. The work I had lined up was going to cost me money, all warranty work. The water temps were in the 60’s, too cold to be working underwater, if you ask me. I just found out that my drysuit needs repaired, so I’d not be using it to try to better deal with the cold. And I kid you not, a black cat crossed my path on the way to the mailbox…so of course the mailbox  contained nothing but bills instead of the checks I was expecting. The whole day was bad luck.

Or was it?

What IS luck, and how can it be bad or good? Here is my take on the whole thing.

Luck is simply the manifestation of preparations made for the future. The more prepared you are for the future, the better your “luck” will be. Let me explain.

I had a friend whose husband was ill. I offered to help her with several things around her house, that’s the kind of guy I am. Almost a year later, the widow called me, and said her husband would have wanted me to have all of his woodworking tools. I tried to argue, but instead, ended up with a complete woodworking shop, something I’d always wanted.

A friend of mine, the negative vibe type, started complaining about “how lucky I was”. But I don’t think I am lucky. Blessed, maybe, but not lucky. I will say that good things happen to my wife and me. Most times things turn out so well I’m almost embarrassed.

The wife and I have talked about it many times. We refer to it as “our luck”, and smile, nod, and keep moving along. Things like:

• Having spare batteries, located in my EDC bag, for the camera that died just before a wedding. That was lucky!
• Having a dry clothes in the car for the kids to wear when caught in a rain storm. Wow, lucky!
• Having friends that let us spend the night as we passed through after sleeping in a VERY leaky tent in a heavy downpour. We also ended up discovering “Maple Bacon Coffee” that day too- LUCKY!
• Being able to open a padlock without driving 20 miles for the key that was left in the wrong vehicle when we didn’t have time to make the drive back. So lucky!

All lucky, right? Or was it just good planning? Being prepared for the worst, and hoping for the best, we tend to ride along, safe in the knowledge that if something bad happens, we’ll get by.

Another part of being “lucky” includes building community as well. Community can be a huge part of recovering from disaster. We know all of our neighbors, and have good relationships with them. When something bad happens, they help.

By planning ahead, any unfortunate happenings that could ruin the day/week/life turn into resolvable issues.

Bad luck is very often simply the end result of poor planning. Most times, this can be averted!

And the times that things don’t go well, personally, we tend to forget. Why dwell on the bad, when it just brings you down? Bad things happen to all of us. But so do good things, and good things happen more often when you are ready for the bad things.

Maybe our ability to overlook the bad most of the time is the lucky part. Or the fact that we prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Go make a plan, or do something to improve your future. It might change your luck!

Peace,
db

 As always, please “like” FloridaHillbilly on Facebook, subscribe to my feed, and tell your friends! The more folks involved in improving themselves, the less likely they are to sneak into your rabbitry and steal all your lucky rabbit’s feet!