Luck does not exist

                      Luck does not exist  

 

 Ah ! He is Lucky to have made millions….

Oh !  Every thing he touches turns into gold

Hah!  Can you imagine, He became the CEO of the firm, what luck!!!

 

   NONSENSE !

 

What people call luck is nothing but probability outcome! It is a phenomenon that beholds us from the moment we are conceived till the day we depart to NOWHERE ! The fact that we were the “lucky” sperm that beat all the other millions that were striving to get to the goal “ the Egg” is a result of millions and one factor which one usually summarizes by one ambiguous and unintelligent term … “luck”.

How about winning at a lottery! Is that Luck??

Hundreds of factors determine which number will be the winning number including the decision of buying the ticket, where the ticket was purchased, when it was purchased, and the electronic system used in spinning the wheels. all play a role in determining which number will be the “lucky” one.

 

Oriental societies, tend to consider luck as a major player in their lives, so are rural and agrarian societies. The explanation for that I think is because older societies and economies relied for their livelihood on agriculture where natural uncontrollable factors play a serious role. While developed societies and economies rely on man made equipment, machinery, and services where he has control over the decision making process.

 

Here below are four cases of ex-classmates of the writer who have amassed large fortunes during the past 30 years and who are referred to by many laymen as “lucky”!!

   

Have you considered hard serious 18- hours- a- day work as a factor in jamil’s promotion at his firm and later being selected to the position of the CEO of the company??!!

Sami decided to join the family stationary business, and worked hard and long, to prove his leadership skills and sound decision making to his father and his business associates. XYZ the leading computer firm in the world offered Sami’s company the sole distribution rights for their line for the whole MENA area, based on Sami’s track record. I cannot detect the element of luck in Sami’s success story!!

 

Let us take Amin’s case. No one can deny that Amin’s enduring, patient, and compromising nature that brought him close to the Prince of the Northern Provence who later became the Minister of Defense. Amin has chosen to limit his is vocabulary to four words…Consider It Done done! Thus he became the trusted and loyal confident to the Prince. He consequently was entrusted with the arms deals that were transacted between the United Regions of Evil and the Prince’s country. His shares of the commissions over the past twenty years are over 200 million dollars. Amin has been married for 15 years and was not endowed with any children. Would you consider luck has been behind Amin’s financial wealth or life???

 

Hamid we all know left Lebanon, instead of accepting the position of Head of Department at the Ministry of Finance which his sectarian leader has arranged for him. He went to Nigeria during the Biafra war. He traded with both warring parties, living in the war zone for seven years at the risk of being captured and killed at any moment. His wealth is strictly a product of the risks that Hamid was willing and ready to assume.

 

Finally, let us take the case of our class mate Nabil. We all watched Nabil investing in real estate in Lebanon at a time when we all were selling, during the ugly years of the Lebanese. At that time we all referred to Nabil as the “naïve one” to say it politely. Now that Nabil is worth more than 150 million dollars is the result of seeing an opportunity and grabbing it on the spot without hesitation, if or but.

 

In conclusion success has nothing to do with luck unless your definition of luck is “opening the door when an opportunity knocks…no buts or ifs or or procrastination.”

Success is a result of HARD WORK, RISK TAKING, QUICK DECISION MAKING, PERSEVERENCE, PATIENCE, and ATTENTION to DETAILS.  

“LUCK” does not have any role in the process…..

“Luck” is a term used by losers to fend their failures, and discredited the successful.

 

Sabbah Al Haj, PhD