Who's the most fortunate and luckiest person in your life?
What's the best luck you have ever had in your life? Consider your life objectively. How lucky do you think you are overall?
I’m very fortunate. Like with most people on earth, life isn’t always roses and rainbows, sometimes life is just crap. With that said, my kids are happy, healthy, and fed, so nothing else really matters because that’s the ultimate blessing that I don’t take for granted.
I think I have average luck.
I'm trying to balance my perspective on my life. I should always be grateful for what I have so I won't be an ungrateful whiner, but also recognize that I've been through a lot, so that I'd give myself some leeway. In other words, find the comfort in knowing that it's ok to feel down because of the unfortunate/unlucky events that happened, but not let myself stuck in that position, realizing that I still got what others were not fortunate enough to have, and start working on making my life better.
Even though my life sucks right now, an 8.5. I was born into a mostly loving family, in a first world country, I'm a white male, I've not really experienced anything life-threatening besides almost being hit by cars, I've never been hate crimed, I've never had to go hungry, I've always lived in a house with clean water, my family and I usually go abroad about once a year (besides last year and this year), I have freedom of speech and I have access to education.
I'd say I'm pretty lucky. I often find myself looking back on my life or recent events and realizing how much sheer luck has occurred. Perhaps I'm just a heavy optimist, but I feel that, compared to others, I have had an inordinate amount of good luck. Here are some examples:
Born to a great family with firm but forgiving parents.
No weight issues and I actually enjoy working to maintain my fitness.
I've always has a strong sense of discipline and self-control, even as a young child. It is and was no problem for me to control my emotions, or refrain from destructive activities such as eating unhealthily and smoking/drinking.
A work ethic that refuses to allow me to give up. I believe this was instilled from my father, but I'm fortunate he was like that.
Never had a breakup or bad love experience. I was too shy to date until I was 24. I rarely felt upset about not having a girlfriend during my younger years as I realized I was the cause of my singleness and knew what I would have to do to change the situation. That first girl I asked out when I was 24 is now my wife of 3 years (30 y/o now). I hope this doesn't come off as a "nah-nah my life is great, yours sucks". I have had my share of rough times; bad jobs occasionally, non-immediate family conflicts, or the death of my father in a vehicle accident a few years ago. It's not like nothing ever gets me down but I definitely feel fortunate to be born where I was, in the time that I am. Look at all the cool stuff we have! I got to see the personal computer and the internet be born, video games, I get to use vaccines and antibiotics, airplanes - people fucking fly in huge metal birds!-, cars and robots (and I can't wait for them to get better! Damn, I love robots.). There are just so many awesome things and amazing ideas out there. Most of my life has been a living hell. I'd say I've been lucky numerous times but only in the fact that I have dodged some serious bullets. As for just getting lucky, I'd say the only truly positive thing in my life was my parents. My mom and dad were great and gave me great critical thinking skills, possibly the greatest thing they've ever given me. My dad is a lazy drunk now though.
I partially understand this. I have lived a very inconsequential life. Things are always handed to me and i rarely have to do work. I just graduated uni this semester and i rarely attended class and skipped some of my final exams. I have been smoking pot almost everyday for the past 4 years and non of my family has any idea, i have an easy job that pays well and a couple of girls that i see for occasional sex, despite being only 5 foot tall and not very good looking.
However...one thing about my life, is that the people around me always suffer greatly. I'm sure its just a coincidence but almost everyone i have ever spent time with has gone through a tragedy shortly after meeting me.
I'm a straight white male, so I don't really have to worry about sexism/racism/homophobia preventing me from doing anything (at least so far). I live in a country with proper public healthcare and education, but haven't had to rely on either due to having been born to two doctors, with their income allowing for attendance of an independent school and private healthcare. I've made it into the university of my choice, being one of the best in the country, where I will be starting medicine myself in just over a month, after having completed the science component of my science/med dual degree (and with quite good marks). I managed to get into that degree pretty easily too, despite a general lack of effort on my behalf, as I have a natural ability to pick up concepts quickly, and am able to learn a lot with little study. The total cost of university will be around $42000, of which, ~$32000 I can pay for with the money saved over about 6 years from a scholarship I earned while at school. While I've been studying, I've also had a casual position in a medical centre, mostly doing paperwork and cleaning up after the doctors, which has provided me with a steady income that more than meets my rather humble spending, as well as the chance to sit-in on a couple of procedures as well. My parents, while now divorced, are also both loving, level-headed, and practical, so I've never had to worry about any sort of family issues from them. These personality traits have also been pretty well instilled into my sister (at least now, she went through a rebellious, low self-esteem period) and I as well, so they've set us up pretty well to be good people.
In terms of physical characteristics, while I do have the slight misfortune of having inherited extremely oily skin and hair, as well as migraines and a nose condition similar in function to asthma, I also got my dad's build, being quite tall and pretty lean. Oh, probably one of the bigger genetic downsides: the pretty much 100% chance of getting large numbers of skin cancers due to a dominant mutation. Can be mitigated by all your normal sun-safe practices though (or doing as I do and generally avoiding spending huge amounts of time in the sun).
Psychologically: I'm afraid of public speaking and often end up stuttering when I have to, and am generally a little socially awkward (only a little - practicality prevents much more), but have never had any real concerns beyond worrying if my sister was psychologically ok for a while a few years ago. I have no issues with drugs (never used any), smoking (this counts as an issue, being wilful ruining of your health), alcohol (drink about 4 times a year), or junk food (tend to dislike the taste of most of it).
I've never had any close friends or family members die, and only know of two people I've ever met that have died (one being a girl who had left my school years before, the other being one of the doctors I worked for).
Relationships: I've had a few girlfriends over the years for a couple of months each, though am currently single and have no issues with that (beyond family or one of my mates occasionally nagging me about it). I have a core group of about 6 really close friends, having all gone to school together and stayed in touch since, as well as a couple more close uni friends and many acquaintances. I also have a cat that absolutely adores me and follows me everywhere around the house, who I know well enough to be able to tell two rooms away what a specific type of meow means.
The one place I have abysmal luck is in poker: I can't bluff at all, and somehow also seem to get dealt good cards (Texas Hold 'em, so no ditching strategy) at a much lower rate than the rest of my mates. We don't play for much though, so it doesn't particularly bother me. I do, and I tell people all the time. I'm lucky enough to have a smart husband who loves his job and gets paid well so that I can stay home with our kids. We can afford to go on vacation from time to time, and we don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from or if we can afford to go to the doctor if we're sick.
What I really can't fathom is how in the world we wound up with two kids who have nothing wrong with them. It's almost impossible these days to get five kids together in a room and not have one with ADD, food allergies, dyslexia, autism, eczema, learning disabilities, behavior issues, etc. Our kids do well in school, have friends and extracurricular activities that they like, get along pretty well with each other, and behave when they're away from their dad and me. I can't ask for anything more. I think I feel lucky because I'm happy with where I am now in life. If I were in a bad time in my life, I feel like I'd definitely focus more on all the bad things that have happened to me to "land me in this place." But with a good head on my shoulders right now, I can say I'm happy with how I turned out and that I'm grateful that there's nothing I want that I don't have already.
Hell yeah I consider myself lucky, if not straight up blessed. Lemme count the ways:
-Moved out of my home town a few short months before a legendary amount of drama struck, resulting in social circles nuking themselves.
-Had to drop out of art college because it was too expensive. The lucky part? That same college is now suffering financial issues due to false advertisement. If I had stayed I would have been in a lot more debt with a useless degree.
-Getting sick of working fast food? Oh! A coworker just happened to know of a federal program that educates you in blue collar service jobs for free and I can apply!
-I got hit by a car and didn't have to go to the hospital. I couldn't bend over for a month, but considering the car hit my tail bone and sent me skipping near six feet, I ain't complaining! Then there are all sorts of little things, like getting extra shifts when I need them, catching the bus on time or getting home before an accident slows down traffic. I am most definitely lucky or blessed and I am grateful as heck for it.
In general life is unfair. Not everyone can have the outcome they want because it is impossible. Working hard does increase the chances of success though. Sure it doesn't guarantee it, but for most people, we aren't guaranteed success. Tbh, I wouldn't want to be lucky from birth anyway. Makes it much more likely you will become disconnected from the average persons struggles.
100%. Thousands of people are born with God given talents. But that doesn't mean U succeed. Used to go to school with a fella. Played for England school boys in football and Crystal Palace. But every sport he was just unbelievable. Yet when he got his professional contract with the money, it all went south very quickly. There is such a thing as a God given talent. But it's up to you to use it And on celebrities, I don't respect them saying it but it's 100% true. If never try to reach your goals, you never will. And like me, you can live a happy life that way too. I'm never winning the lottery because I'm to lazy to try
Yeah it helps but I have several real life examples of people close to me who came from nothing and now have what most people would consider a successful existence.
One came from a poor family mired in drug addiction in southern ohio. Grew up on welfare and joined the navy fresh out of high school. Did the night school thing. Started his own IT company and eventually got two large contracts with the federal government. Now owns multiple houses and boat.
Another is close in age to me (30). His dad was a POW in Laos and his parents immigrated before he was born. He never went to college but worked hard at several jobs until he had enough saved up to open his own restaurant that is thriving even in the current atmosphere.
Not sure what being born in a big city has to do with it in the US. I grew up in bumfuck NC and left for college at 18, never returning.
Thinking that people can get to where they are mainly because of lucky is a bad way to look at it. Yes, sometimes good things do happen to people, but what you don't see if what they've done to get to that point. Like one of my friends was "lucky" because she got into an Ivy league and everyone saw this person as someone who partied every weekend and didnt study at all. What people didn't see was that this person was also studying 24/7.
I think it's very uncommon, but yes, I think some people are simply lucky. I went from elementary school through college with this one guy who has had extraordinary luck as long as I've known him. These strange, ridiculous, but awesome opportunities just fall into his lap, it's amazing. I run into him a few times a year, he's a good guy, but kind of a strange person. I think I'm a pretty lucky guy. I have a really good relationship with my family and know they'll always have my back, I've also gotten lots of great opportunities like college, and now grad school to pursue the career I've wanted since I was a kid. Now, of course I'm working hard to make the most of those opportunities but I still feel lucky to have gotten them in the first place.
Exactly, if you make $35,000 per year, you're in the top 1% of the world for income. Being born middle class in America, I already feel like I won the lottery. There's a computer game where your character's birth circumstances are effected by real life statistics so almost all of your characters are born in poverty in either China or India, with the odd Sub-Saharan Africa here and there. One time I had a character who was born in Denmark, it was wild.
Born into a well connected wealthy family. You're going to receive the best education, you'll automatically have great connections to use to begin your career which in turn means you can start accumulating lots of your own wealth if you wish to, where you'll likely make great connections of your own.
A friend from law school, who is just such an inherently nice and childlike guy the universe has found his decency and goodness to be worthy of grace and improbable stuff goes his way. Makes me feel like some part of the cosmos is functioning properly.
So the luckiest person I know is a friend of mine who just always seems to have good things happen to him. He is always the one who finds the money just lying on the ground or doesn't get caught sneaking into an event. He has found over 300$ on the ground. He also loves to gamble. You say the house always wins? Not when you're playing with this guy. Most people I know have stopped playing with him! You may just say he is just observant or thoughtful but I swear to you if you knew this guy you would understand why I consider him the luckiest man I know. He was before times of cellphones cutting wood several kilometeres from his home at scarsely inhabited area. His brother and my father were supposed to help him, but they were ill so he went alone.
He had just got there and after a couple of minutes work there came a situation where he had to use a billhook. He got an epileptic seasure (his first) and when he again could recall he was middle of forest, and the billhook was stuck at his right groin.
He could not move and had hit his head to a stone while falling.
My father found him 8 hours later when they had started to worry where he is.
The billhooks head had missed his femoral vain by a cm.
They took him to hospital immedialty and fixed him. Later he had another saesure while using an old style chainsaw with no safetyswitch and wake up to see that chainsaw had sliced his cap, but was unharmed. He have had it under control for almost 20 years and lives a good, balanced life.
I’m very fortunate. Like with most people on earth, life isn’t always roses and rainbows, sometimes life is just crap. With that said, my kids are happy, healthy, and fed, so nothing else really matters because that’s the ultimate blessing that I don’t take for granted.
I think I have average luck.
I'm trying to balance my perspective on my life. I should always be grateful for what I have so I won't be an ungrateful whiner, but also recognize that I've been through a lot, so that I'd give myself some leeway. In other words, find the comfort in knowing that it's ok to feel down because of the unfortunate/unlucky events that happened, but not let myself stuck in that position, realizing that I still got what others were not fortunate enough to have, and start working on making my life better.
Even though my life sucks right now, an 8.5. I was born into a mostly loving family, in a first world country, I'm a white male, I've not really experienced anything life-threatening besides almost being hit by cars, I've never been hate crimed, I've never had to go hungry, I've always lived in a house with clean water, my family and I usually go abroad about once a year (besides last year and this year), I have freedom of speech and I have access to education.
I'd say I'm pretty lucky. I often find myself looking back on my life or recent events and realizing how much sheer luck has occurred. Perhaps I'm just a heavy optimist, but I feel that, compared to others, I have had an inordinate amount of good luck. Here are some examples:
Born to a great family with firm but forgiving parents.
No weight issues and I actually enjoy working to maintain my fitness.
I've always has a strong sense of discipline and self-control, even as a young child. It is and was no problem for me to control my emotions, or refrain from destructive activities such as eating unhealthily and smoking/drinking.
A work ethic that refuses to allow me to give up. I believe this was instilled from my father, but I'm fortunate he was like that.
Never had a breakup or bad love experience. I was too shy to date until I was 24. I rarely felt upset about not having a girlfriend during my younger years as I realized I was the cause of my singleness and knew what I would have to do to change the situation. That first girl I asked out when I was 24 is now my wife of 3 years (30 y/o now). I hope this doesn't come off as a "nah-nah my life is great, yours sucks". I have had my share of rough times; bad jobs occasionally, non-immediate family conflicts, or the death of my father in a vehicle accident a few years ago. It's not like nothing ever gets me down but I definitely feel fortunate to be born where I was, in the time that I am. Look at all the cool stuff we have! I got to see the personal computer and the internet be born, video games, I get to use vaccines and antibiotics, airplanes - people fucking fly in huge metal birds!-, cars and robots (and I can't wait for them to get better! Damn, I love robots.). There are just so many awesome things and amazing ideas out there. Most of my life has been a living hell. I'd say I've been lucky numerous times but only in the fact that I have dodged some serious bullets. As for just getting lucky, I'd say the only truly positive thing in my life was my parents. My mom and dad were great and gave me great critical thinking skills, possibly the greatest thing they've ever given me. My dad is a lazy drunk now though.
I partially understand this. I have lived a very inconsequential life. Things are always handed to me and i rarely have to do work. I just graduated uni this semester and i rarely attended class and skipped some of my final exams. I have been smoking pot almost everyday for the past 4 years and non of my family has any idea, i have an easy job that pays well and a couple of girls that i see for occasional sex, despite being only 5 foot tall and not very good looking.
However...one thing about my life, is that the people around me always suffer greatly. I'm sure its just a coincidence but almost everyone i have ever spent time with has gone through a tragedy shortly after meeting me.
I'm a straight white male, so I don't really have to worry about sexism/racism/homophobia preventing me from doing anything (at least so far). I live in a country with proper public healthcare and education, but haven't had to rely on either due to having been born to two doctors, with their income allowing for attendance of an independent school and private healthcare. I've made it into the university of my choice, being one of the best in the country, where I will be starting medicine myself in just over a month, after having completed the science component of my science/med dual degree (and with quite good marks). I managed to get into that degree pretty easily too, despite a general lack of effort on my behalf, as I have a natural ability to pick up concepts quickly, and am able to learn a lot with little study. The total cost of university will be around $42000, of which, ~$32000 I can pay for with the money saved over about 6 years from a scholarship I earned while at school. While I've been studying, I've also had a casual position in a medical centre, mostly doing paperwork and cleaning up after the doctors, which has provided me with a steady income that more than meets my rather humble spending, as well as the chance to sit-in on a couple of procedures as well. My parents, while now divorced, are also both loving, level-headed, and practical, so I've never had to worry about any sort of family issues from them. These personality traits have also been pretty well instilled into my sister (at least now, she went through a rebellious, low self-esteem period) and I as well, so they've set us up pretty well to be good people.
In terms of physical characteristics, while I do have the slight misfortune of having inherited extremely oily skin and hair, as well as migraines and a nose condition similar in function to asthma, I also got my dad's build, being quite tall and pretty lean. Oh, probably one of the bigger genetic downsides: the pretty much 100% chance of getting large numbers of skin cancers due to a dominant mutation. Can be mitigated by all your normal sun-safe practices though (or doing as I do and generally avoiding spending huge amounts of time in the sun).
Psychologically: I'm afraid of public speaking and often end up stuttering when I have to, and am generally a little socially awkward (only a little - practicality prevents much more), but have never had any real concerns beyond worrying if my sister was psychologically ok for a while a few years ago. I have no issues with drugs (never used any), smoking (this counts as an issue, being wilful ruining of your health), alcohol (drink about 4 times a year), or junk food (tend to dislike the taste of most of it).
I've never had any close friends or family members die, and only know of two people I've ever met that have died (one being a girl who had left my school years before, the other being one of the doctors I worked for).
Relationships: I've had a few girlfriends over the years for a couple of months each, though am currently single and have no issues with that (beyond family or one of my mates occasionally nagging me about it). I have a core group of about 6 really close friends, having all gone to school together and stayed in touch since, as well as a couple more close uni friends and many acquaintances. I also have a cat that absolutely adores me and follows me everywhere around the house, who I know well enough to be able to tell two rooms away what a specific type of meow means.
The one place I have abysmal luck is in poker: I can't bluff at all, and somehow also seem to get dealt good cards (Texas Hold 'em, so no ditching strategy) at a much lower rate than the rest of my mates. We don't play for much though, so it doesn't particularly bother me. I do, and I tell people all the time. I'm lucky enough to have a smart husband who loves his job and gets paid well so that I can stay home with our kids. We can afford to go on vacation from time to time, and we don't have to worry about where our next meal is coming from or if we can afford to go to the doctor if we're sick.
What I really can't fathom is how in the world we wound up with two kids who have nothing wrong with them. It's almost impossible these days to get five kids together in a room and not have one with ADD, food allergies, dyslexia, autism, eczema, learning disabilities, behavior issues, etc. Our kids do well in school, have friends and extracurricular activities that they like, get along pretty well with each other, and behave when they're away from their dad and me. I can't ask for anything more. I think I feel lucky because I'm happy with where I am now in life. If I were in a bad time in my life, I feel like I'd definitely focus more on all the bad things that have happened to me to "land me in this place." But with a good head on my shoulders right now, I can say I'm happy with how I turned out and that I'm grateful that there's nothing I want that I don't have already.
Hell yeah I consider myself lucky, if not straight up blessed. Lemme count the ways:
-Moved out of my home town a few short months before a legendary amount of drama struck, resulting in social circles nuking themselves.
-Had to drop out of art college because it was too expensive. The lucky part? That same college is now suffering financial issues due to false advertisement. If I had stayed I would have been in a lot more debt with a useless degree.
-Getting sick of working fast food? Oh! A coworker just happened to know of a federal program that educates you in blue collar service jobs for free and I can apply!
-I got hit by a car and didn't have to go to the hospital. I couldn't bend over for a month, but considering the car hit my tail bone and sent me skipping near six feet, I ain't complaining! Then there are all sorts of little things, like getting extra shifts when I need them, catching the bus on time or getting home before an accident slows down traffic. I am most definitely lucky or blessed and I am grateful as heck for it.
In general life is unfair. Not everyone can have the outcome they want because it is impossible. Working hard does increase the chances of success though. Sure it doesn't guarantee it, but for most people, we aren't guaranteed success. Tbh, I wouldn't want to be lucky from birth anyway. Makes it much more likely you will become disconnected from the average persons struggles.
100%. Thousands of people are born with God given talents. But that doesn't mean U succeed. Used to go to school with a fella. Played for England school boys in football and Crystal Palace. But every sport he was just unbelievable. Yet when he got his professional contract with the money, it all went south very quickly. There is such a thing as a God given talent. But it's up to you to use it And on celebrities, I don't respect them saying it but it's 100% true. If never try to reach your goals, you never will. And like me, you can live a happy life that way too. I'm never winning the lottery because I'm to lazy to try
Yeah it helps but I have several real life examples of people close to me who came from nothing and now have what most people would consider a successful existence.
One came from a poor family mired in drug addiction in southern ohio. Grew up on welfare and joined the navy fresh out of high school. Did the night school thing. Started his own IT company and eventually got two large contracts with the federal government. Now owns multiple houses and boat.
Another is close in age to me (30). His dad was a POW in Laos and his parents immigrated before he was born. He never went to college but worked hard at several jobs until he had enough saved up to open his own restaurant that is thriving even in the current atmosphere.
Not sure what being born in a big city has to do with it in the US. I grew up in bumfuck NC and left for college at 18, never returning.
Thinking that people can get to where they are mainly because of lucky is a bad way to look at it. Yes, sometimes good things do happen to people, but what you don't see if what they've done to get to that point. Like one of my friends was "lucky" because she got into an Ivy league and everyone saw this person as someone who partied every weekend and didnt study at all. What people didn't see was that this person was also studying 24/7.
I think it's very uncommon, but yes, I think some people are simply lucky. I went from elementary school through college with this one guy who has had extraordinary luck as long as I've known him. These strange, ridiculous, but awesome opportunities just fall into his lap, it's amazing. I run into him a few times a year, he's a good guy, but kind of a strange person. I think I'm a pretty lucky guy. I have a really good relationship with my family and know they'll always have my back, I've also gotten lots of great opportunities like college, and now grad school to pursue the career I've wanted since I was a kid. Now, of course I'm working hard to make the most of those opportunities but I still feel lucky to have gotten them in the first place.
Exactly, if you make $35,000 per year, you're in the top 1% of the world for income. Being born middle class in America, I already feel like I won the lottery. There's a computer game where your character's birth circumstances are effected by real life statistics so almost all of your characters are born in poverty in either China or India, with the odd Sub-Saharan Africa here and there. One time I had a character who was born in Denmark, it was wild.
Born into a well connected wealthy family. You're going to receive the best education, you'll automatically have great connections to use to begin your career which in turn means you can start accumulating lots of your own wealth if you wish to, where you'll likely make great connections of your own.
A friend from law school, who is just such an inherently nice and childlike guy the universe has found his decency and goodness to be worthy of grace and improbable stuff goes his way. Makes me feel like some part of the cosmos is functioning properly.
So the luckiest person I know is a friend of mine who just always seems to have good things happen to him. He is always the one who finds the money just lying on the ground or doesn't get caught sneaking into an event. He has found over 300$ on the ground. He also loves to gamble. You say the house always wins? Not when you're playing with this guy. Most people I know have stopped playing with him! You may just say he is just observant or thoughtful but I swear to you if you knew this guy you would understand why I consider him the luckiest man I know. He was before times of cellphones cutting wood several kilometeres from his home at scarsely inhabited area. His brother and my father were supposed to help him, but they were ill so he went alone.
He had just got there and after a couple of minutes work there came a situation where he had to use a billhook. He got an epileptic seasure (his first) and when he again could recall he was middle of forest, and the billhook was stuck at his right groin.
He could not move and had hit his head to a stone while falling.
My father found him 8 hours later when they had started to worry where he is.
The billhooks head had missed his femoral vain by a cm.
They took him to hospital immedialty and fixed him. Later he had another saesure while using an old style chainsaw with no safetyswitch and wake up to see that chainsaw had sliced his cap, but was unharmed. He have had it under control for almost 20 years and lives a good, balanced life.
