Does Luck Exist?

Does luck exist?

The woman’s soccer championship between the US and Japan was won by Japan.

There is no question that the US team was a better team all around and that they were prepared to win it all.

And yet, time after time they would get to the goal and miss, as if an invisible barrier stood between the ball and the goal.  When they finally scored and the game was ending, the US was winning 2 to 1, the Japanese scored a goal just by being in the right place at the right time.

That took the game to penalty kicks and the rest is history. The Americans missed three kicks, something not very common. We must say that in this regard the Japanese team had seen the Americans kicking penalties in a previous game and the US had not seen the Japanese in the same situation. The Japanese goal keeper knew each American kicker and she guessed correctly twice, enough to win.

The Japanese team also demonstrated great persistence, never giving up, staying in the game and doing what needed to be done to win.  A US player was interviewed and she congratulated the Japanese team and mentioned that supernatural powers had intervened in their favor.

For Japan that victory meant quite a bit. A country that had been hit by a Tsunami of enormous proportions, the nuclear disaster and the economic losses that they suffered in the middle of a huge recession and with a foreign debt over 200% of their yearly production, winning the championship was the best thing that could have happened to them.

I am really happy now that it is over that they won, the country deserves a break.

How about the America’s cup?  This tournament, perhaps any tournament, has ever had a quarterfinal quite like this one. The three group winners and the tournament’s host, Argentina, were all eliminated.

The perfect match everyone was waiting for, Brazil, Argentina went up in smoke.

Paraguay got to the quarterfinals without winning a single game. Can you imagine? And now they get to the finals without winning a game. Venezuela dominated the second half and they simply couldn’t score. During the penalty kicks, Venezuela missed one, well, in reality the goal keeper blocked a kick that would have scored.   Whether you think Paraguay is lucky or not, they will probably not beat Uruguay in the final game, unless… The game is on Sunday so when you read this article on Monday we will all know.

Peru getting to the semifinals was almost a miracle. They finished bottom of the Conmebol World Cup qualifying, and they come to the America’s cup and get to the quarterfinals losing to Uruguay.

This America’s tournament has been the strangest ever, no doubt about it.

Getting back to the original question: Does luck exist?

Have you ever noticed that very successful people sometimes will accomplish as much in a year or two as the average Joe accomplishes during their lifetime? I have seen it many times.

Have you ever noticed that when these winners accomplish a lot, the guys in the pack will talk about them and say that they are simply very lucky?

There might be confusion between “chance” and “luck”.

Some experts say that chance is like winning the lottery or playing roulette, the outcome is not predictable. Whatever happened on the last roll of the ball has no connection whatsoever as to what will happen the next time around. Your winning or losing has nothing to do with luck; it is all a matter of chance, of the odds.

They say that “luck” is predictable; it is the result of doing what you need to do in order to be ready to seize opportunities come your way.

Al Simmerman tells the story of a keynote address in 1980. The room was packed standing room only, with people applauding the lady as she walked to the podium and stood in front of the lectern to deliver her speech.

She looked at the whole room, scanning the audience and then said: “My mother is a deaf mute. I do not know who my father was or is. My first job was picking cotton. And I stand before you this day as Treasurer of the United States. My name is Azzie Taylor Morton”

She went on to say that you don’t have to stay where you are in life if you really don’t want to. She then took out a dollar bill and told the audience that next time they thought that they couldn’t do anything, to look at the dollar bill and look at her signature.

Was she lucky?  Or did she do everything she had to do in order to achieve the success she achieved in her life?

Some say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity however I think it is better to end the article with the dictionary’s definition of luck.

1. The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events; fortune: They met one day out of pure luck.

2. Good fortune or prosperity; success: We wish you luck.

3. One's personal fate or lot: It was just my luck to win a trip I couldn't take.

To gain success or something desirable by chance: lucked into a good apartment; lucked out in finding that rare book.

So what do you think? Does luck exist?