Luck is something that for me has always been ill defined. What is it? Being in the right place at the right time? Being prepared for all eventualities? Is there truly something supernatural going on? As St. Catherine (above) might tell us, sometimes luck really doesn’t look like good luck at all!
At one time or another, I’ve done all the “lucky things”–wished upon a star, carried a lucky rabbits foot, consulted the I Ching, you name it. As often as not, doing one/some/all of these things has produced the desired result–good luck! Why on earth does any of it work?
Some would insist that it’s “mind over matter”–that the mind of man is able to perform some indescribable calculus and have everything work out. I’m not sure I buy it, but I might as well. After all, I don’t have any better explanation.
When I was growing up in the Prairies, horseshoes (open side up, please) were considered to be a symbol/cause of good luck. Open side down? Not so much. With the luck holder inverted, all of your luck was likely to spill on the ground!
Barn stars (above) were also plentiful in my home province (Saskatchewan, Canada). It wasn’t until recently I even realized that the barn star was also considered to be a symbol of luck! It would interesting to have the statistics on how many barns burned down, either with or without the barn star affixed. My guess is that no one even thought to collect the statistics. Does anyone know?
As we progress through current challenges, it would be behoove us all to check in on our beliefs (or lack thereof) about luck. I, for one, have been hedging my bets. My latest investigations into the spiritual include, among others, the teaching of the Buddha. He didn’t believe in luck. My own tendency, as with Gautama, is to discount luck and the purported use of luck to be a “wrong means of livelihood” (i.e. barking up the wrong tree.)
So I ask you (and to quote one of my favorite actors), “Do you feel lucky?”*
*(Please Note: I have edited the “Do you feel lucky, punk?” Please insert “punk”if it applies.)
Some people never catch a break- what does that mean?
Not sure. Probably the opposite of being extremely lucky! Some people are (or seem to be) extremely Unlucky. I.E. They can’t ever seem to catch a LUCKY break!