‽istis
reclaims good fortune (weekending May 14th 2022)
In a couple of weeks when
‽ someone in the UK has come forward with the EuroMillions
winning lottery ticket to claim a new record £184million[i]
‽ a colleague has apparently won a ‘beast’ of a Triumph
motorbike for less than £10 of raffle tickets
‽istis has chanced upon an episode of BBC Radio 4’s Start the
Week programme considering ‘Curiosity, Ingenuity and Experimentation’[ii]
‽istis ponders good fortune… and
finds (guided by carefully crafted algorithms) some relevant attributed quotations[iii]:
·
‘Oh, but you must travel through those woods again and again...
said a shadow at the window... and you must be lucky to avoid the wolf every
time... But the wolf... the wolf only needs enough luck to find you once.’ Emily Carroll.
·
‘Everything in life is luck.’ Donald Trump.
·
‘People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than
they have.’ Anne Tyler.
·
‘Luck affects everything; let your hook always be cast; in the
stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish.’ Ovid.
·
‘Luck has a way of evaporating when you lean on it.’ Brandon
Mull.
·
‘Diligence is the mother of good luck.’ Benjamin Franklin.
Several quotations suggest that
perhaps there may be something more than random chance going on: ‘Luck is a
dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.’ Ray Kroc.
And ‽istis recalls the ‘lucky’
gold winning ‘last man standing’ 2002 Winter Olympic speedskater, Steven
Bradbury, safe in last place when all those in front crashed out. Bradbury is
quoted as saying: "I'll accept this
gold medal. But not for the 90 seconds of the race - I'm going to take it for
the 14 years of hard work." And later, it appears that Bradbury was in the
right place, at the right time and was able to help save the lives of four very
‘lucky’ young people in rough Queensland surf[iv]
- Perhaps, possibly maybe we might attribute just a little bit
more to the endeavour of those who appear lucky?
- But what if the circumstances that support anyone’s capacity to ‘endeavour’,
that lead to a mind prepared, are also extraordinarily complex and ‘chancy’?
- That perhaps whether we are apparently ‘winners’ or ‘losers’, we
may all be ‘hoping against hope’[vii] in a world where so much
is possibly beyond our control?
- That a worthwhile endeavour for us all may be one where we seek
to create the conditions of good fortune, build a ‘right place’ and a ‘right
time’ for everyone, as perhaps luckily we are all ‘in it’ together.
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/11/euromillions-someones-come-forward-to-claim-184000000-jackpot-16625761/
[iii] https://kidadl.com/quotes/top-luck-quotes-to-bring-some-magic-into-your-life
And finding this interesting website has seemed a little bit ‘chancy’: ‘The
Kidadl Solution
Kidadl was founded as the digital home of family
edutainment, helping parents educate and entertain their kids with trusted,
personalized, curated content designed for families the world over.’
[iv] Interestingly Steven Bradbury went
on to save four very lucky young people from drowning in a dramatic rescue in
wild surf https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10587673/Australias-Olympic-hero-Steven-Bradbury-saved-four-lives-Sunshine-Coast.html
Right place, right time; again!
[vi] See The Munro Review: TheMunroReviewofChildProtection-Part one.pdf (ioe.ac.uk)
