Are some people luckier than others?

[inquisitiveinga]

My 6 year old just asked if there really is such a thing as luck, and if so do some people have more than others?

Stories/thoughts welcome whilst I try and keep his mind occupied during my last week of pregnancy!

There is randomness and some people will come out on the good side and some on the bad side. It doesn’t mean luck is an inherent quality of the person.

Few people are plucky!

I'm not sure there's "luck" as such, because all people can go through good and bad events.

However, I really do believe that a strong family and stability during your childhood is the foundation for being able to cope more easily with bad events. And the family you are born into is all down to luck.

Teach him this old saying: "The harder I work, the luckier I get".

It's not entirely true of course, but there is something in it.

Some people always seem to get what they want

I do think sometimes luck or the right circumstances have to be on your side. I've noticed in many cases sometimes having parents or relatives in the right industries or with the right connections can get you in the door at least, maybe yes the rest is down to your hard work but someone who doesn't have those connections may not be able to get a foot in or takes years longer!
And we have all had to have someone help us along the way to get where we are or need to be, sometimes someone giving you the right opportunity, right place right time plays a factor.
Some people do seem to get knock back after knock back at times as well even if they do all the right things!

Luck - chance does exist

But over your life you throw the dice over and over again, so you would expect on average over your life to get the same amount of good and bad luck

Like any game of chance you can maximise how well you do , focus on the positive when it happens , get yourself on the right position to capitalise on any luck ( that's making your own luck through work )

it's just preparation meeting opportunity?

Luck is partly perception.

If I am in a nasty car crash and my car is written off but I walk away with only minor injuries am I unlucky because I had the accident or lucky because I’m not badly hurt?

To a 6 year old I'd say, some people are lucky in one way and othervpeople are lucky in other ways. Then chat with him about the luck you and he have. And maybe say some people are lucky to have something he doesn't gave but you don't have to rely on luck. There are lots of ways to have a great life apart from luck.

Each of us faces different situations and outcomes in life. Some believe that luck is just random coincidences, while others see a deeper meaning in it. Maybe it's a combination of effort, our perception of the world and random factors. It is important to remember that every person is unique and the definition of luck may be different for everyone.

Of course some people are luckier than others. Someone born into a loving family in a peaceful country with enough money to meet all of their needs etc is certainly "luckier" than someone born into abject poverty and a chaotic family living in the middle of a war zone. Some are born healthy others are born with complex medical needs. And various variations on the theme.

But a lot of what people think of as luck depends partly on the individual. Whether they have made the most of the assets and strengths that they started with. Whether they have looked after their health and worked hard to make the very most of their talents. Whether they have sat back and relaxed or made the very most of the opportunities that life has thrown their way.

It's a complex picture. Life certainly isn't all luck. But it isn't all down to hard work and seizing opportunities either. Some "luck" really is just random. Some "luck" is created by the individual. And anyone who claims that it's all one or all the other us frankly just deluding themselves.

You make your own luck to an extent.

Yes, to an extent, luck is random, so by definition, some people will be luckier or unluckier than average.

But a big factor is your own actions, firstly to put yourself in a position where you're more likely to be lucky, or less likely to be unlucky, and then your attitude and actions when luck (good or bad) strikes you.

I.e. someone may be "lucky" to win the lottery, but they have to buy a ticket to be in with a chance. If you don't even buy a ticket, then you've massively reduced your likelihood of winning and being lucky (to zero!!). Buy more tickets and you increase your chances of being lucky by winning!

Same in every other aspect of life. You may be "unlucky" to get knocked down crossing the road, but you can reduce your chances of being knocked down by being more aware of the traffic, walking a bit further to a pedestrian crossing, walking even further to use a bridge or subway instead, etc etc. or increase your risk by listening to loud music, concentrating on a telephone call instead of looking at the road, crossing where there's no crossing or central island, etc etc. You can still be run down crossing at a crossing when you have the green light if the driver is an idiot, drunk or on his mobile, but the chances are greatly reduced - even moreso if you watch the road as you cross instead of ignoring traffic and going just because you have the green light!

With health, you're very unlucky if you get a type cancer that has no links to lifestyle and have lived a healthy, active life, non smoker, moderate drinking, plenty of exercise, not overweight, not a sun worshipper, etc etc.

Whereas if you drink a lot, use sunbeds, are a few stone overweight, smoke, etc etc., and get a lifestyle related cancer, then it's not really just bad luck as you have, to an extent, contributed to the causes by poor lifestyle choices!

Yes, there is still an element of luck in both extremes, and some ultra healthy people get cancer in just the same was as some people who have abused their bodies don't get cancer, but it's a numbers game, different probabilities/chances, etc.

I think some people do have charmed lives better luck than others. I know a few lovely, kind, hard working etc people who have endured awful tragedies, health problems, money worries etc. Yet other people who don't objectively "deserve it" can fall into a sewer and find a Rolex every time.

I like the Red Dwarf theory that considers luck to work a bit like a reverse virus. Some people catch it at random times.

Never really believed in luck. I think different people have different opportunities due to factors like money, and knowledge. I had cancer with no lifestyle or hereditary factors that we know of at 48 but I don't see that as being unlucky, its just an experience that happens (maybe stress from a very full and interesting life before though who knows). Born 150 years ago or before wouldn't have made it to then anyway so its all relative. And before then pretty much everything went perfectly and now its treated its back to very good again. I don't think much of that is luck, worked hard at school, got to a great uni, great jobs and money followed.

I think it's good luck to be born into a rich family, to be born with high intelligence, to have nice straight teeth. Or is that just genetics? It might be genetics but it's not something you went out and earned so imo it's ''lucky'' to have a button nose, gorgeous teeth, good health, family wealth.

I think that some people who are ''lucky'' in the ways listed above go through life with a relaxed trust that everything will be ok, cos it will be. And that makes people relax around them, offer them more opportunities, which they feel confident to take. It's all connected.

But I would have to disagree with the statement that there is no such thing as luck.

Its about being at the right place at the right time

From an early age I've told my dc they were born under a lucky star, and if they stay alert and keep a look out, then great opportunities and solutions will always appear along their way.

I've also encouraged them to listen to their own instincts and make their own decisions as far as possible. If things don't work out, a better opportunity will soon come along for them because they are 'lucky'.

Now, I don't actually believe in luck as such - you make your own luck by believing you have agency over your own life path, by taking on measured risks and opportunities, and making the best of them. But this takes practice and confidence. It also means overcoming the fear of making a mistake and failure and viewing it as just another learning opportunity to improve and hone your decision making (instinct). You don't view setbacks as a character flaw, just a natural obstacle in the road to steer around.

The funny thing about luck is if you believe you are lucky, and act accordingly, then you most often will be!

But some of the key elements of that you don't control, like being born healthy into a comfortably-off family who can meet most of your needs in a safe, peaceful country.

Exactly this scenario happened to me. Awful high speed collision (other driver was drunk and lost control of their car). We all walked away with the bare minimum injuries for the circumstances. I think I'm lucky - I could have been badly injured or dead.

I think some of it is luck and circumstances (eg background / having a good start) and some is mindset and being a Pollyanna about everything.

A good friend of ours was always so lucky it was ridiculous. Whatever he played, he won, whomever he met turned out to be looking for someone he could give all his money to (just slightly exaggerating 😄) and so on.
Then, within a very short timespan, he got meningitis, his wife got cancer and his dad died. We had always been joking so much about his lucky card in life and then life became so cruel to him...no idea what the moral of this story is, but I directly had to think of him when I read your question.
(Luckily (!), that was around 2018 and he and his wife both recovered completely).