Luck Vs Personal Responsibility

[MidasGirl]

I feel that 'luck' and 'personal responsibility' are mutually exclusive. I don't believe in luck (good or bad).

luck Audio Help /lʌk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[luhk] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance: He had no luck finding work.
3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person: She's had nothing but bad luck all year.
4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend: This rabbit's foot is my luck.
—Verb phrasesInformal.
5. luck into or onto, to meet, acquire, become, etc., by good luck: She lucked into a great job.
6. luck out, to have an instance or run of exceptionally good luck: He lucked out when he made a hole in one during the tournament.
7. luck upon, to come across by chance: to luck upon a profitable investment.
—Idioms
8. down on one's luck, in unfortunate circumstances; unlucky: She hated to see her old friend so down on her luck.
9. in luck, lucky; fortunate: We were in luck, for the bakery was still open.
10. luck of the draw, the luck one has in or as if in drawing cards.
11. out of luck, unlucky; unfortunate: When it comes to getting World Series tickets, we're usually out of luck.
12. push one's luck, Informal. to try to make too much of an opportunity; go too far. Also, crowd one's luck.

I feel that 'Luck' is the unconscious person's way of explaining an outcome or results they haven't been able (or are not willing) to correlate how it was produced by their thoughts and actions, or lack thereof.

If you can get lucky or unlucky, then why are you working toward a specified result? Isn't believing that you can get lucky or unlucky antithetical to the very idea of hard or smart work? Isn't believing in luck just a sly way of playing a victim? I mean, you are a victim of some unforseen conspiracy by the universe or God or something you choose not to know how to explain, aren't ya?

[Angela]

To me, "luck" is merely a linguistic convention -- a placeholder.

A perspective of 100% responsibility, on the other hand, is a real, practical, employable tool I can choose to use (or not); one that I've experienced as the very bedrock of living a life I love.

Apples and oranges! Well, not even, cuz at least they're both fruit.

[SonoranBob]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

I feel that 'Luck' is the unconscious person's way of explaining an outcome or results they haven't been able (or are not willing) to correlate how it was produced by their thoughts and actions, or lack thereof.

Luck is a throw-away concept that you are right not to believe in.

It is, however, a conceit IMO to think that 100% correlation of cause and effect is possible, because our perceptions are not 100% accurate, and in fact, we don't have 100% of the data to draw conclusions from anyway. In some places our knowledge and comprehension are in fact close to zero.

Some things in life will remain unexplained and may even be, as they sometimes appear to be, Not Our Fault. The fact that people with victim mentalities hide behind this doesn't mean that it isn't so.

It is as much a dead end to seek the Answer to Everything as it is to blame everything that goes wrong on bad luck or the devil. The primary problem with LOA is that it is beloved by the arrogant and foolish people who think that there are silver bullets for everything. Alas, if life were that simple we would have conquered human suffering centuries ago.

LOA, as an unqualified proposition, leaches the world of compassion and mercy, because in the end, everything that's wrong is Your Own Damn Fault Somehow. It's a convenient way to dismiss the suffering of others, and to judge them with impunity.

--Bob

[seeker5]

LUCK = Labor Under Correct Knowledge

[MidasGirl]

Originally Posted by SonoranBob

LOA, as an unqualified proposition, leaches the world of compassion and mercy, because in the end, everything that's wrong is Your Own Damn Fault Somehow. It's a convenient way to dismiss the suffering of others, and to judge them with impunity.

--Bob

While my post wasn't about LOA, I think you are confusing "fault finding" with "responsibility assumption". I think the reason many people might balk at this suggestion is because nobody likes to feel like they are at fault. NOBODY. Not all the time anyway. But it isn't about blame and fault finding. It's about complete 100% responsibility assumption. I gotta say it isn't for wimps either.

I view this from a more Karmic perspective than from an LOA perspective. If you believe that every thought you put out there, every action you take or fail to take MUST produce a result of some kind, including no result for no action taken, then why is it hard to simply get over ourselves and our ego, quit blaming ourselves and simply admit that it simple action and reaction in action?

[SonoranBob]

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

... it isn't about blame and fault finding. It's about complete 100% responsibility assumption. I gotta say it isn't for wimps either.

All I'm saying is that life is a complex system. Not all causes result directly in a straightforward, easily discernible effect. Not all effects have an obvious cause. To suggest that anything that is lacking in another's life is due to their failure to assume full responsibility for their own life is rather impertinent. I wouldn't do it, personally. Besides, I'm automatically suspicious of anything that is (1) simple and (2) purports to explain everything all the time.

Originally Posted by MidasGirl

I view this from a more Karmic perspective than from an LOA perspective. If you believe that every thought you put out there, every action you take or fail to take MUST produce a result of some kind, including no result for no action taken, then why is it hard to simply get over ourselves and our ego, quit blaming ourselves and simply admit that it simple action and reaction in action?

Because it's not always, or even often, simple. Life is messy. Attempts to make it tidy are doomed to failure.

Also, because many times in my own experience, the following things have regularly happened:

1) Expected / intended nothing in particular, but good things happened.
2) Expected bad things, good things happened instead.
3) Some form of ♥♥♥♥ falls from the sky that had never entered my mind before or was even considered possible, much less expected, feared, or intended in some way.

An extreme example.

I never aspired to be financially set. In fact, I am the child of depression-era parents with a scarcity mentality and a religious background that supports that sort of thing. I was always vaguely suspicious of successful people, since I had various muddle-headed ideas that wealth is a temptation rather than a blessing. However, quite in spite of myself, I ended up with a career that I love and have been wildly successful at. I am debt free and headed, at this rate, for early retirement. My talents are sought after and literally bid up to levels two to three times what the market typically allows. Based on my formative mentality, this is totally contrary to what LOA and I/M teaches.

If I had to place a mystical interpretation on it I would think it more plausible that I just never valued wealth that much and since it wasn't something I was wanting and striving for it was free to just flow to me. That would fit with other things in my life that I have valued and sought after and that have, in the main, eluded me. However, I can't say that this applies neatly to all areas of my life, either.

Universally, it's my experience that people who are both successful and humble, acknowledge a significant element of what they call "luck" in their success -- whether you're talking about financial success, relationship success, or whatever.

The appeal of simple cause-and-effect reasoning is that if it were true, it would remove randomness and risk from everyone's life. This is a comforting but untrue thought.

--Bob