They say it is all luck or who you know that determines your success in life, but isn’t who you know also a matter of luck?
It is absolutely not true that if you work hard and are excellent at what you do that you will be a “success”(I will touch on the various meanings of success later) but for now I am using the fame and fortune version.
I have seen people get rich and famous without an ounce of talent. Why? Luck!
I have seen people who were super talented and at the top of their game, that had put in endless hours of practice and dedication, never get anywhere, despite their efforts.
Example, a very talented musician I know personally. He started playing guitar when he was a kid, it was (and is) his passion. He had a dream of becoming a “Rock Star.” He spent his entire youth working toward that goal. This guy is no slacker. People come to him for lessons, he plays in local bands and the audiences go wild, but despite all of that, his ship never came in.
He told me one day, recently, that he was glad he had other skills because he has come to realize that he is never going to be a rock star. It hit me like a ton of bricks because I am this fellow’s biggest fan. I tried to explain to him that he was a local rock star and he had many fans . He told me he knew all that but it wasn’t the same as being a real“ROCK STAR”!
I knew what he meant, but I continued to explain to him that he was successful in so many other ways, that he had his health and a loving family and many fans of his work. He said he was aware of all that but he had worked all his life to become a rock star and he wasn’t one and he felt he was too old for that to ever happen for him now. We both agreed that if anyone deserved to be one, it was he. He had the talent, looks, personality, desire, dedication, why then was he playing local watering holes when so many wankers were hitting the big time? Luck! That is it, pure and simple. It wasn’t in the stars for him to be a rock star in this lifetime despite his efforts.
They tell us when we are kids that we can be anything we want if we work hard and apply ourselves and want it badly enough. That is a crock! There are only so many slots for big time success and they are filled by the “lucky” ones and no matter what the rest of us do to attain one of those elusive slots we are just not going to get one.
They say we make our own luck. I think that is true up to a point, like not running out in traffic or jumping off a building, or robbing a bank. But I think the luck that determines success or failure is random or possibly doled out by whoever is the puppeteer in this earthly drama.
Positive thinking only keeps us happy while we are waiting for luck to decide our fate. We are not creators of our own destiny, but pawns subject to the whims of the powers that be.
It is always good to be prepared to open the door if opportunity knocks, so one should definitely keep their skills honed if they might just happen to be one of the lucky ones. Keeping your eye on the prize is great but there comes a time for most people when you realize the prize will never be yours no matter what.
That is when we need to try to come to terms with a whole new meaning of success in life. Success in helping others, being a good parent a good role model, a good provider, having the world be a better place because we were here
Most of us start out thinking we are special and destined for greatness. It is a bitter pill to swallow when reality sets in and it hits us that we have put in all that effort for nothing. What we wanted more than anything else in the world will never materialize.
We will never be the one in the spotlight with countless of millions of dollars and adoring fans.
There are many very talented famous people who have worked hard and earned the right to be in the limelight and luck smiled upon them, but there are also many, many no talent examples of glorified mediocrity receiving accolades for no other reason than they got lucky.©
