It's mostly about luck

[AlexD]

No, math is gross :club:

I just really love math so I guess I am partial. 

 

[lifestream]

I believe that actual luck is a case of being in the right place at the right time.

I sat the same entrance exam for a college course I wanted every year for the last five years and passed it every time, but I only got the course last year. What seemed to do the trick was ignoring the instructions in one section of the exam and doing the opposite thing. Was that a good turn of luck? I don't think so, since it was my own choices that determined the outcome. I chose to defer that same course to look after a dying relative who passed away two weeks before the start of term, by which point my place had been allocated to another student. Was that bad luck? No, since my choices had again determined the outcome.

As Teresa said, luck, good or bad, is often our misinterpretation of the culmination or reversal of our life circumstances, which is why I think that people who seem like they don't deserve it often appear to have it to a greater degree than people who may be more worthy. Life has conditioned them for success, while those of us on the other side are often more adaptable to lack of success since we don't automatically expect it in every venture. If you've ever seen a so-called 'winner' lose, you'll know what I mean.

Real luck is much more rare and much more chaotic.

 

[GrayAndLonesome]

I have come to the conclusion that everything in life is mostly about luck. Lucky people are more attractive, more liked. Unlucky people are unattractive and less liked.

You had a good start. A bit of luck. You get more luck. A bad start. It goes in the opposite direction. It builds up like interest. You get positive and negative feedback loops. The vicious circle. The most painful thing is you're already unhappy and unlucky, yet people treat you like crap and they don't want to know you. So you're punished twice over. 

It happens with friends, money, jobs, girlfriends, respect, everything. One problem affects something else and has an effect on everything else. I wish people could see how this happens. It's not about hard work/laziness or character or genetics or anything else like that. It's mostly luck people live on. I wish I could get out of this.

@ Trouble79, I "kind of" agree with you on this.

I think in my case, for love and finding a girlfriend, there is no luck with me. I'm a decent-looking guy and even girls have commented on how handsome I look when dressed up. But so far, I have not had a girlfriend for the last 2 years. I have not had a bonafide/real girlfriend (the ones where you can sleep and have sex together / non-platonic type) my entire life!

So yes, luck is what leads one to success.

However, for job, I disagree with luck. I think with hard work, making friends and networking the right way, will land you a decent job that will further lead you up the ladder with your career.

Friend-wise, it depends on your cultural and racial background that determines who will be friends with you.

Where I'm from, I come from a large Japanese community in California, as my father's side is Japanese. I recently moved to Oregon where my workplace is predominantly white/caucasian, and hardly anybody wants to talk to me. They all meet up for their weekend get-together at the diner, but don't invite me. It's okay, I don't plan on staying that long at my current workplace. I also feel discriminated at times too. So yeah, I guess it's luck but also what odds you're up against.

 

[trouble79]

Yesterday I was listening to the radio and they played Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones. The expression "losing streak" in jumped out, exactly what I'm talking about here. 

I have an issue with the way people tell you that you should sort yourself out. You start to try to do that and they don't like it. I sometimes think they just want to keep you in your place at the bottom so they have someone to look down on. I should say f them, that's their problem but it's hard to keep your belief in yourself when others are against you.