Luck - Grow

Do you believe in Luck?
Or do you believe in fate and destiny?

Whichever school of thought you inhabit there are many things in your life that you can control, things you can use to shape your destiny, and if things out of your control happen to fall in your favour then call it luck, call it fate or call it destiny, you will grasp it with open arms.

What happens when things out of your control go against you? Do you call it bad luck? Or do you still call it fate and destiny, however bad it is?

There is an old proverb, about a father and son who run a farm together in the East. After a long bleak winter, it becomes clear that the crops for the year will be ruined. ‘What terrible luck’ exclaimed the son, ‘there is no such thing as terrible luck’ replied the father, ‘there is only what is’. The pair struggled through the spring, knowing that the long hot summers are punishing and full of drought, when for the first time in decades the rains came. ‘What fantastic luck’ enthused the son, knowing that they would now be able to grow enough crops to get through to winter, ‘there is no such thing as fantastic luck’ replied the father simply, ‘there is only what is’.

Early the following year the son was the victim of a terrible accident, falling and breaking both of his legs, he would be bed-ridden for months, not able to help his aging father on the farm. ‘Oh no, what unbelievably bad luck’ cried the son, ‘there is no such thing as bad luck’ said the father comforting, ‘there is only what is’. Several days later the head of the local army conscription service called at the farm to enlist the son to go to fight a terrible war, because of his injuries he was deemed unfit to join and stayed at home safe. Within a few months he had made a full recovery a re-joined his father working on the farm.

This story perfectly demonstrates changing fate, or changing luck, and in each example in the story the events were totally out of anyone’s control. If you can keep a level head and take life as it comes, you will not feel like you are on so much of a rollercoaster, more of a privileged voyeur of life.