Good Night & Good Luck

So after some recent events & situations, I spent the better part of today ruminating on the concept & meaning of "luck"; Webster's Dictionary defines "luck" as: "(a) a force that brings good fortune or adversity, (b): the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual; favoring chance; also : success <had great luck growing orchids>" (interesting example they chose); I bring this up because no matter what you call it (luck, karma, kismet, etc.), some, in fact many, will argue that "there is no such thing; we all make our own luck or good fortune"--and I do agree with that in principle, but with each passing day, all the different things I see in my travels & my dealings with people on a daily basis make it hard to believe that a lot of what happens in life is "divine provenance" or "just out of our hands"; too much seems to happen to people that can't always be defined as a situation where "if he/she would've only done this, or that, things would've turned out differently"-- re: yesterday's blog, if Gabby Giffords happened to be standing in a different spot or location, or was running late for that paticular event or stop, what eventually happened wouldnt've, but how could she know or change that? Was the inebriated, wheelchair-bound vet getting on my bus yesterday afternoon able, at any point in his life, to actually make different choices to have even some small modicum of good fortune come his way? Or could he have ever consciously done just one thing differently? If any one of us goes to a casino or plays cards for money, but doesn't play our usual style or game to try to change things up because we've had a bad run doing so, or play a different machine because it "feels" lucky, maybe one that we saw the person before us win on, or we sit a different way, or rub the machine, or wear some different hat or lucky charm, is that making our own luck if we start winning, or just superstition? Sitting here with the Yankee game on in the background, I think: does a batter or pitcher who is losing or doing badly & who changes his stance or delivery, wears the same hat or shirt under his jersey until his "luck" changes, then starts winning or hitting home runs, doing so because now he has "good karma", or his "luck" has changed?? I think we don't so much make our own luck as we end up in the right place at the right time & make our own success; we may catch a "lucky break" along the way, but as the saying goes "success breeds success"--also, I think another old saying has it backwards: it's not WHO you know, but WHAT you know; we make our own "breaks", by being dilligent, working hard, being tireless promoters of our own best qualities & attributes--simply put, my friends, you cannot wait for a lucky break, or wait for someone to come along & hand you anything you want in life--"to thine own self be true" should be everyone's motto everyday--even if the choices you make don't pan out, if you are confident you did what you thought was best & would make the same choice again, then it was not meant to be--I will admit I am not always the most positive of people & complain more than I should about too many things (patience is a virtue; impatience taxes that virtue, take it from me), but I try to make things happen for myself (not always successfully, but I try), not sit around & wait for it; my wife & I have had our ups & downs in many areas of our relationship & our personal & professional lives, just like anyone else; it's how we move forward & change the things we need to that will shape our future, not crystal balls, 4-leaf clovers, rabbitt's feet, charms, potions, incantations, etc. or even worse, "wishful thinking"--like the Nike ads used to say "Do it!!", or better yet, to quote the old 60's rock group Badfinger: "If you want it, here it is--COME & GET IT"