What is luck?

This is one of those unanswered questions that are pondered but not quite understood by anyone.

The dictionary defines luck in many ways.

“Success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.”

“Chance considered as a force that causes good or bad things to happen.” “A force that brings good fortune or adversity.”

“The events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual.”

“The phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of notably positive, negative, or improbable events.”

According to Natasha Josefowitz, “It is not only chance, it is creating the opportunity, recognizing it when it is there, and taking it when it comes. Whichever way you define it, it means the same. Something that is an unattached force that introduces good or bad fortune by chance based on superstition that is believed by someone. It’s based on chance. If you enter the lottery and you win, you are insanely lucky. But if you don’t? You aren’t “unlucky.”

You’re just part of the millions that don’t win. And if you win a soccer game, you aren’t lucky. You might have had a bad game. But it was always a chance that you wouldn’t, just how there are overwhelming odds in the lottery that you won’t win. 

Some people think that four-leaf-clovers are lucky. They’re rare, but they won’t make your life any better. If today, you find a four-leaf-clover, you’re just as likely to get in a car crash tomorrow as you were yesterday.

Others believe that crossing your fingers, knocking on wood, or horseshoes keep you lucky, but you only are lucky if you feel lucky. Luck is a slippery thing. The more you try to get, the less you have. So I guess what I’m trying to say is: luck is right in front of you, not in the clover.