I mean, really, what is luck? Is there a standard definition? Is there an instrument for measuring luck? Is luck automatically good and hence when we talk about ‘bad’ luck we have to describe it as such? Is luck interchangeable with something else? I mean, I guess it is, how else would one explain religion? Its basically anthropomorphising luck, isnt it? Something good happened? That is God showing you he loves you. Something bad happened? That is God testing you. Nothing good nor bad happened? God helps those who help themselves. God works in mysterious ways. God gave us free will (in fairness that is also often used to explain bad luck, but oddly never good luck).

Aside from what luck actually is, how do you quantify it? The phrase “with a little bit of luck” is often used in situations which are much more serious than you would imagine a ‘little bit’ of luck could help with. At the other end of the spectrum, who hasnt seen a farewell card with “lotsa luck” scribbled across it (in a font that indicates no one seriously cares how much luck you have when you leave)?

And to the crux of the issue, where exactly in the general everyday business of existing does luck do its thing? If someone is stepping into traffic with a car hurtling along toward them, and luck intervenes to save them, does Lady Luck/God/Fate alter only the pedestrian’s trajectory, or the driver, or both? It seems unreasonable to use someone else’s luck to change the outcome for one person in a positive way while the other’s future is disregarded. I mean really, the only thing that would stop a car hitting an oblivious pedestrian would be if the car broke down before it got there or was hit by another car before it got there. Chuck, the ignorant street-crosser, might be ok, but Norm the innocent commuter now has a buggered car and is late for work! What if Norm then loses his job due to being late, and after a series ‘bad luck’ eventualities ends up homeless and dies of exposure? Thanks a lot, Chuck, or God, or Fate – someone has cocked up there! And let’s hope Chuck isnt a serial killer, saved by the universe to fulfil a future of inflicting carnage and horror. Luck seems somewhat short-sighted. Not a big picture thinker.

My point is this – in the 21st Century, it seems simplistic and foolish to still believe in such a thing as luck. I know it helps people avoid responsibility for their own actions, and that is something that will never go out of date, but I had hoped we had evolved beyond blaming influences beyond our control for the results of our own arrogance (I’m looking at you, climate change).

Chance and Chaos are my all powerful influences, alongside Resilience and Ethics. I find myself continually getting kicked in the teeth by Chance and Chaos. Chance seems to get to me when I am least expecting and Chaos likes to run in when I am down and put me in a choke hold. Resilience and Ethics hide in cupboard until the vibe is a bit calmer and its safe to return. Ethics is mostly a presence akin to the window dressing of a shopfront no one visits. Everyone always talks about wanting to go in, but just never seems to have the time. I have a love/hate relationship with Resilience. After all it’s the reason I can find a way to keep bouncing back after the onslaught of Chance and Chaos, but it is also the reasons Im standing again when I they inevitably track me down for another lesson about why I should never dare attempt to build self-confidence, or a glimmer of optimism, for that matter.

It really doesnt matter what you call it. We are probably all at the mercy of influences beyond our control. Existence is suffering, so it is said. So, does that mean I am on some plane of super-existence? Dont get me wrong, I have many things to be grateful for but Ive also had my fair share of ‘tests’, or ‘bad’ luck in some pretty significant ways.

So, just for tonight, Lady Luck, send me something special. Let me go to bed with hope for tomorrow and give Resilience some long service leave, before he quits and moves to the tropics. Let me praise my good fortune with a kind of frivolity I’ve forgotten how to feel. Let me remember what a good night’s sleep feels like. Do this and I will join the masses in variously lauding and blaming you for the events of my life. I dont think that will make me a better person, but I also dont think Chance and Chaos care much about that anyway.