Is it really bad luck or good luck?

I tend to agree with the negativity theory.

Of course, bad things can and DO happen to ‘good’ people, but..in my experiences, I have no doubt that I have manifested much of what I have enjoyed in my life by the power of positive thought and a spiritual trust.

I really don’t beleive in ‘unluckiness’, I beleive that s—t happens, and it is all about how one deals with it, looks at it.

I know that what I might have considered, at the time, to be some of my most ‘unlucky’ or unhappy moments have actually been foreshadows of some amazing outcomes! :-)

There’s no such thing as luck. You either see everything as a burden or you make the most out of what you’re given. Most people do both.

Luck rains into people’s lives equally, but it is how people view what happens to them that matters.

I have had bad luck that turned out to be lucky in the long run. For example, my husband got laid off from a job in Florida, but we moved to Washington, D.C where he got a better job that he likes a lot.

I was laid off from a company and I started up a consulting business.

The only exception is one of my sisters. She seems exceedingly lucky. People give her things, and by things, I mean cars, horses, etc. Multiples.

@tinyfaery I don’t know about that. I knew a woman who lost a husband, a best friend since childhood and two siblings in a 4 month span.
And I’ve known people who never seem too have anything of consequence happen. Their life seems charmed. Incredible coincidence seems to follow them. Not always super fantastic but suddenly something happens that leads them to something great.

@marinelife So do you think its her behavior that brings about her luck? Or is it a coincidence in her case?

It’s stochastic. And sometimes stochastic events cluster, which can look like good or bad “luck” depending on the events.

There is no such thing as luck. There is certainly such a thing as placing yourself in situations that tend to produce desirable or undesirable outcomes. If you seem to be having lots of “bad luck” you should look closely at your choices and actions.

The woman who experienced all those deaths, that is just life. It happens, and, not uncommon especially in mid-life. People start dying when we reach our 40’s & 50’s, a big surge of loss yes, unlucky or self created, not in that case.

Things do tend to converge in cycles.

@Pandora. I don’t know. i have not been able to figure it out. She also wins contests a lot.

@Coloma True. She was about 60 and I’m sure everyone she knew was around that age as well.

For those who don’t believe in Luck, I use the word Luck because writting the following is too pesky.
the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual
The word luck seems to fit nicely.

When someone says “it’s going to be one of those days” or “I feel a cold coming on” they will generally get what they are thinking about. What you think about, comes about. As you think, so shall you be. So think about good luck if that is what you want.

@gondwanalon I agree that people many times make their own misfortune. But does it derive most of the time from negative thinking that draws negative people or can being a truly positive person bring about good fortune. Or just wierd coincidence?

There are bad things beyond our control that happen that affect us or people close to us.
The cause of those things are not related to, or influenced by our behaviour.

On the other hand, When for whatever complicated reasons, a person *expects bad things* to happen to them, they are predisposed to find things that confirm that belief.

Suppose the weather turns ugly the night they had plans to attend an outdoor concert. These people make internal attributions in which they tell themselves that they are unlucky and have been singled out for special abuse or punishment.

Most others in the same situation of having to miss the concert because of bad weather will make external attributions and say, ”Damn that weather. I hate when it messes up my plans!”

People with negative expectations tend to be gloomy and pessimistic and often drive many people away from them if this behaviour pattern persists. They then attribute their lack of friend to their own perceived faults and their “bad luck.”

People who don’t blame themselves for those random unfortunate events get more support from their friends. They tend to not drive caring people away from them.

Having a negative expectation tends to produce some negative experiences that do in fact result from the way they think and behave. They expect to fail and they don’t try as hard. They expect not to be liked by others and they find that many people avoid them. Until they learn to change their negative expectations, their experience of life will not change much.

@Dr_Lawrence

I so agree!

I also notice that perpetually negative personalities also have a real physical presence about them. Their body language radiates a heaviness. They tend to have bad posture, slouch, in general have a gloomy presence. I call it the ’ Eeyore outlook.’ lol

@Coloma Your observations are so accurate and well documented. Is it any wonder they end up isolated? Eeyores can really wear a person out!

@Coloma. LOL, Your right. I actually know two people like that. I never attributed the look to their negative personalities. Nope, wait, I know 3 people like that.
@Dr_Lawrence So true.

I’ve never really believed in luck & believe to old adage about most folk being as happy as they make up their minds to be. I believe a positive outlook makes it more likely that good things will evolve.

That said, however, I do seem to go through cycles where after several calm or good years, I have a year where everything bad seems to happen and I just feel snakebit.

“What fresh hell is this?”—Dorothy Parker

@netgrrl

lol..I love how you put that!

I think I am entering one of ‘those’ shifts again.

I go in like like 4–5 yr. cycles.

The last 5 years have been banner..but, I think the tides they are a changin’...lol

NO, stop….CANCEL that thought! haha

Never…what is unlucky? Luck is so subjective and unluck is even more so. I know a few people that would a face value appear unlucky, but a closer look reveals they are content with their apparent life struggles.

People have always said I’m lucky and while I do think that many of us (in terms of where we live and in terms of our privilege, etc.) are lucky, I always resented these claims because I worked my ass off for all that I had (whether it be my degrees, my relationships, my kids, my body and so on) and I had all that I had because I cared enough to take risks, to never stop progressing, to say ‘why not?’ all the time.

Luck is something we assign after the event. I’ve been lucky in my life in the sense that I was irresponsible about things and they worked out anyway. I’ve also been unlucky in the sense that I’ve done everything right and still had things go wrong. Whenever both good and bad things can happen, for some people a lot of good things will happen and for some people a lot of bad things will happen. Thats just life, but there is no mystical guiding hand or trait, etc… that leads to it.

But I do think that people who are lucky are also those who tend to set themselves up to win. Having dependable friends, for example, is a good way to be “lucky” so that, if you lose your job, you have a good support network to help you get back on your feet.

Luck is simply someones own opinion of a situation. We people will experience “Unlucky moments a lucky moments.) Say you are playing a slot machine at a casino,winning is only a two things happening at once,your playing and the game hit the jackpot. So luck is really only your opinion on somthing.