Why Luck Sucks

Disclaimer: The nature of this blog invites controversy. Please only participate if you can vindicate your opinions maturely.

It does not give you any kind of entitlement. It does not make you better than someone else; it also does not make you less deserving. It also ignites unnecessary jealousy, pitting people against each other, and invites false hope. I realize that I’m attacking this subject more than most people would, but I’ve neglected to discuss it yet. And, as someone who has experienced luck on both ends, I would like to paint you a picture as to why it is never something to be proud of or something to be ashamed of. Luck is unavoidable (elaborated later) and everyone who is a victim of it cannot always control it (but remember that you can control how you handle it). I am going to explain the context of why I’m discussing this topic, and what I’ve learned. And then I’ll give you some advice.

It has been a hell of a long time since I’ve discussed my musical endeavors with you, the community. But I will address them now. I actually know producers and musicians who have never submitted a piece of work to any kind of promotional network or label, yet have acclaimed fame because those networks found them. Some could argue that they got lucky, which is technically true depending on how you define luck. In that regard, I have either been extremely unlucky, or my work just sucks. Either way, I have spoken to quantitative numbers of networks over the years trying to promote my work, but to little avail. It could actually be that my work sucks, and I’ve acknowledged that. Or, it could be that I haven’t found the right audience, which I believe more to be the case. This means that I have to work much harder to get what I want. The good news is that it will be worth it, and I won’t need to tell people that I got famous overnight because that sure as hell won’t be the case. When the time comes for my career to propel, I can look back and say that I worked hard for it, rather than that it was handed to me on a silver platter. I’ve said this to illustrate a core principle: being unlucky is never something to view negatively. Working hard has benefits in the long run; it just takes longer to get there.

The very idea of luck is actually inane at its foundations. For this, we have to consider the definitions of “luck”, because it varies depending on what you read and what you believe. From a prescriptive sense, luck is when you believe that such acts as coincidence are brought on by supernatural forces. For example, some will believe that maybe they weren’t meant to get the job. In a descriptive sense, luck is just a temporal expression to describe fortunate or unfortunate acts, favored by chance via the laws of physics. Regardless of which point of view you choose to look at it from, it doesn’t change luck. Luck is when something happens out of your control at random – that’s it. If you win the lottery, yet you put forth no effort to do so [and considering the architecture of the lottery], then you won by luck. If you are born with an incurable disease or rare fatal condition, you are the victim of what is called constitutional luck (same could be said if you were born into the royal family). Whether you’re black or white, straight or gay, human or squirrel – factors that you cannot control contribute to the idea of luck. That’s how I define the concept, definitively.

Now, if you get lucky with something great (such as winning the lottery or winning a random drawing for something, or being randomly discovered for your forte), there are some things you should know. Never go around bragging about it; doing so makes you look both insecure and needlessly entitled. Secondly, don’t tell your friends to rely on luck (winning the lottery, for example, which is purely luck), because that invites false hope that doesn’t help anybody. Encourage them to work hard and fight for what they want. Third, acknowledge that luck plays a part! By doing this, you have assured your friends (as well as yourself) that you are no better than them – in fact that you are just as human as them. Humility is one of the most valuable characteristics that a person can have, because it considers the principle that people are equal. And I cannot stress how important equality is to a functional society. In other words, it’s okay if you get lucky – after all, you can’t necessarily control winning the lottery other than not participating. Getting lucky does not entitle you to hatred or unnecessary jealousy – in fact, since it’s inevitable that some people will react in this way, I suppose that you are also unlucky in a sense (i.e. luck can destroy weak relationships, but not because of you) But more importantly, you need to understand that getting lucky does not warrant entitlement, and that’s important to acknowledge (unless of course you are part of the royal family, well, then you practically get all entitlement).

If you have been rather unlucky with some things (and I do actually mean unlucky, not when you made a stupid decision and it backfired), I also would like to help you out. As mentioned above, do not react negatively to people who are lucky. This is a reaction caused by the mentality that you feel more deserving than the other person, thus triggering a sense of jealousy and embedding pessimism in your heart. Do not let this same feeling drive you to rely on luck. Of course, this only applies if you’re a victim of circumstantial luck. Recall that being unlucky does not mean that you can’t live a happy and fulfilling life. If you are a victim of constitutional luck (as in my examples above), you can still control how you handle it even if you can’t control the situation itself. In fact, realizing that you can’t control the situation ought to drive you to make the best of it. You were born in Iowa, homeless, and with a rare condition. You are born into your situation, and that you can’t change. But don’t dwell and focus on why luck sucks. I was born into my own inevitable problems unique only to me, with my own problems and eccentricities. When you look at it like this, every single person experiences some type of luck because everyone is in a different situation. Thus, you can’t compare people’s experiences because they are unique to that person. You just need to be optimistic and realize that you’re a stronger person when you make it all the way through.

Bringing context back into this blog, I am not in the most desirable of circumstances at the moment. I am not in college yet nor do I have a job due to circumstances which have been elaborated in prior blog entries. Do I have control over that, or was I unlucky? It would be foolish to blame anyone but myself, because how can I grow to be an adult without handling my own problems? On the other hand, I am not yet independent, which means that I cannot control every single aspect of my life, including where I live. Recently (i.e. past few months), I have been very busy meeting people, trying to get into college so soon, making contact with several record labels, and trying to get a job at Starbucks (I’ve probably been to six or seven different locations, but with little luck). Yet, I realize that this is how the real world is – it’s hard and you can’t give up. If you give up, regardless of your situation, then you lose all your potential, and your dreams will never be more than that.

That was very powerful. Your blogs give me reason and logic, and I love reading them. You are a phenomenal writer.

dunno why I didn't respond earlier, but w/e. I must say you took the words out of my mouth. Especialy with what you said about dealing with unluck rather than blaming it. I myself used to blame bad luck for stuff, but that has changed as I've grown older. For example: I got kicked out of the place I was renting a room in fairly recently. Instead of saying I was unlucky I dealt with it and called everyone who could be willing to let me rent a room, which ended up in me signing a contract today.

...and trying to get a job at Starbucks (I’ve probably been to six or seven different locations, but with little luck)

Try 30 places in an afternoon

It sure does take some mental strain for many to deal with bad luck, which you described neatly in that blog. Though I must say it seems like you have the right attitude at least.

Anyway, I liked this. Luck is something I've thought of a lot, and something I've despised a lot as well. "Why should some people get an easier life than me without having earned it?"

Also, the lack of luck in MB is one of the reasons I like to play it so much

Very inspirational Joey, I love your writing style! I really hope your situation improves, you truly deserve it. This is the first post on these forums that legitimately moved me.

(Not by distance, mentally hehe.)