Yes, Luck Is a Thing — Here’s Why It’s Important to Acknowledge It

Humility is the key to gratitude, kindness and building a fairer society

Photo by Yan Ming on Unsplash

Nothing makes me cringe quite like people who say they “don’t believe in luck.”

Well, unless it’s those who insist, smugly, that they “make their own.”

Please don’t misunderstand; we can all do things that improve the likelihood of success in our endeavors — or diminish it.

But to deny luck (both good and bad) is to say that everyone ultimately gets what they deserve in life.

And if you believe that, you are saying that billions of people living (and dying) on less than $1 a day somehow deserve their station.

And if you believe that, you’re an asshole.

They were born where they were born, facing the obstacles they face, owing solely to the randomness of life, combined with historical, geopolitical realities that have made some nations richer and others poorer.

And your life has been similarly impacted by random chance and political and economic realities set in motion before you were even born.

But of all these, randomness is the most difficult to face.