True or not true? Discuss using examples from your life experience

(information collection on behalf of Ocean - that'll be $50 thanks, Kylie )

in a perfect world it would be true. i've seen way too many people luck out when they weren't ready to appreciate it.

Anxiety said:

you are killing my thread

ZombieKitten said:

ZombieKitten said:

isn't that what peter parkers grandad tells him?

Anxiety said:

OMG

No, I don't think that one (preparedness) plus the other (opportunity)
necessarily springs forth a third factor which makes any reasonable sense (luck).

In my experience there have been numerous instances where I have had both preparedness and opportunity and no "good luck" or indeed success has occurred.

I put this down to many factors, not the least of which is the major factor of ASSUMPTION (or, misconceptions) as in zombiekitten's signature. It's certainly not just just because I didn't have enough "preparedness" or "opportunity".




[Edited 1/30/08 0:22am]

Agree one million, trillion, fu-fillion percent ...

Btw, I'm assuming we're talking about the "luck" that is experienced when succeeding, and not "luck" such as a bullet just missing you by an inch or so lol...

Fandor said:

I think it's meant the other way...that what we consider to be "luck" is really just when an opportunity presents itself and one is prepared to take advantage of it.

I think "coincidence" more than "prepardness".

purplesweat said:

When opportunity meets coincidence??...

Byron said:

Well, sometimes there are other factors involved. Other people who come into play all too frequently have agendas, not the least of which can be protection of ego.

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[Edited 1/30/08 0:25am]

i was preparing to see my boss to discuss the changes they had made in my work hrs (my boy was 14 mths old at the time) the new hrs- werent viable- id already had reduced my hrs when i went back- and now they were spreading those hrs out over a 5 day period- instead of 3 day- more childcare required 4 no extra money )

on the way, i ran into a book rep- who knew me from 3 yrs in the book dept at said workplace.
she could see i was upset, and she asked why.
i explained the situation to her, and she dragged me into the shop we were standing outside- a book shop- where they were looking 4 a new worker
to cut a long story short, i gave 2 weeks notice at my old job- and started my new one- where i have been 4 8 yrs in march.

13 yrs of training/preparedness in my old job- held me in good sted 4 my new/current job.

i was in the right place at the right time- good luck at work 4 me 4 sure.

Byron said:

It's hard to explain

Mine...

I was preparing (lol) to become a graphic designer...about two and a half years of constant study and literally no sleep (like 30 minutes worth of sleep most days...no lie). The opportunity occurred right after my ex-wife and I moved into a house close to where she worked at the time (a private school). Our neighbor had her two daughters going to the same school my ex taught at, with one eventually being in her class.

Anyhoo, while I had the car, my ex needed a ride home. Our neighbor just happened to be picking her daughters up, and heard my ex talking about needing a ride home. She offered, my ex accepted, and they drove the 5 minutes it took to get home. Since I had never talked to her, she knew nothing about me. During small talk, the neighbor asks my ex if she happened to know any graphic designers...they were in need of one pretty quickly. My wife gets excited and tells our neighbor that I'm a graphic designer (actually I was a graphic design student, but oh well lol). Our neighbor gets excited, and tells my ex to have me come over when I got home. I do, the neighbor tells me that if I'm interested, she can set up a meeting with the main guy at work that very week. I say "ok".

Long story short, I end up getting the job, and start making $80 an hour. Keep in mind that up until that time I was working as a janitor at night making something like $67 a week lol (again, no lie).

It would be easy for someone to tell me that I was "lucky"...lucky that I moved in next to that specific neighbor, lucky that her kids happened to go to the same school that my ex taught at, lucky that my ex got a ride home right at the very moment our neighbor needed a graphic designer...

But in reality, the luck consisted of an opportunity that presented itself, and my having prepared for being a graphic designer for the past 3 years. I had a portfolio, I had the knowledge, I had the confidence. If I had not prepared myself as I did, that opportunity would have just come and gone, with no results. Nobody would have called it "luck" if the result was me continuing to work as a janitor because I was not prepared to be a graphic designer.

purplesweat said:

Byron said:

I kinda believe that while everything happens for a reason, strange things happen as well. I think Luck could be defined as taking an opportunity that just happened to come up at the right time. Does that make sense?

purplesweat said:

Yep, makes sense ...I'm not sure I'd use the word "coincidence", though. That tends to convey that there is no such thing as a "right time". But I get what you're saying...

Byron said:

Yeah true...maybe "chance"? Or is chance the same thing as an opportunity?

GAH!

ZombieKitten said:

purplesweat said:

When opportunity meets opportunity?? ...

Byron said:

byron why is the song playing right now..(prinze sexy mf) making me think its one of your favs? ll

Christopher said:

Because it is? lol ...(that goes for pert near half of his catalog, though...)

Byron said:

haha dunno what made me even think that.still a cool song. i even like tony m. part

ZombieKitten said:[quote]True or not true? Discuss using examples from your life experience

Few random thoughts:

Does luck exist?: I don't think so and I also often argue with the notion of fate (which is a negative factor in popular thinking)
You make things happen and if things do not work out the way you want to, you have to find another way. I think we have plenty of opportunities but we often do not see them or we are too scared to go for it.
I believe that good things happen with hard work, it is the only way for success. But before getting prepared, we need to know what we need to be prepared for. Most people do not know what they want to do or how to express it, we have a whole life to work on this. The important thing is not giving up on yourself.

I know what you mean and without scrutinising the question too much I would say yes.

Enthusiasm and opportunity rather than preparedness.

I don't believe in luck, but I sometimes wonder how the fuck I ended up where I am.

PREDOMINANT said:
I don't believe in luck, but I sometimes wonder how the fuck I ended up where I am.[/quote]

yeah I know the feeling. We get lost sometimes but as long as we are aware of it, there is always another way to get out of an uncomfortable or unhappy situation

It's pretty much the same sentiment as we make our own luck. And yup, that's what I think.

Doesn't this sum up why we want our kids to study hard in school.

Fandor said:

I got both quotes from a crap Steven Seagal movie where he runs around on top of a train killing people.