As a Christian, I may not totally give in to the classic idea of luck, God is all knowing, nothing happens without His knowledge and allowance. So, yes, people are favoured or allowed to be 'lucky'. Winning a lottery is an example, it could have been any other player.

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multiple posts.

saintvalx: There are spiritual forces that influence success/failure.

like

There's no such thing as hardwork or preparedness.I have seen hardworking peeps ,intelligent and richer people who couldn't make it.I thing 2 things influences ones success;time and opportunity.no matter how hardworking or prepared you think you are,if you aint @ the right place and @ the right time and smart, you won't make it.I ve seen people "graduates"apply for jobs and most of them never bothered to ask whether the firm is hiring @that particular time. I do not work really hard like that but somehow I always end up getting what others struggles to get.I ve thought about it,I wasn't prepared but I was on time and I utilized that opportunity .many people have opportunities but failed to recognize them. Time + opportunity= luck

fubbyy: very funny how human think, anyway you reason like a human you are, but let me ask you,what about the people that prepared but never meet the opportunity? I heard someone mentioning hard work,very funny, look around you and weigh the poor and the rich who's more hard working

Someone has already used GEJ as an example, do you think he's a president today out of his hardwork? HELL NO... He's a lucky man

Take it or leave it , everything we do in this life has to do with luck, NOTE: I didn't say its all about luck,I said it has to do with luck, I've seen talented artist make good music,spent money in promotion,shot a nice video yet nothing for them and you will see som1 came up with a junk song and becomes a hit,its luck my dear

Drake admitted that he's success has to do with luck,better rappers have approached lil wayne for a record deal but that didn't happen,he didn't even struggle to get wayne's attention all the way from canada, that's luck my dear

What ever thing you do and succeeds there's an atom of luck in it because you are not the best,there are people better than you

I'm more interested in knowing why you made the following statement , I quote you " very funny how human think, anyway you reason like a human you are " - Honestly , I don't know what makes you think that your own personal opinion is more superior than mine or that of other people who doesn't believe in luck , since you too is a human being . That being said , I still hold on my stance that there is no such thing as luck in my life dictionary , perhaps what I term innovation may mean luck to you. As far as am concerned ,Innovation has always bring to me tremendous success in all I do. Does that mean that I don't recognize " divine grace " ? No .

Jonathan did not ascend to the top in his political career through luck , rather he prepared himself and sought for the opportunities ( directly or indirectly ) and when they materialized he grabbed them . Innovation is the key .

Cultured:

Jonathan did not ascend to the top through luck , rather he prepared himself and sought for the opportunity ( directly or indirectly ) and when it materialized he grabbed then . Innovation is the key .

Prepared himself for it by knowing Alams will be impeached and Yar'adua will die, right?

sholay2011: Jarus, God bless you real good. Nice topic.

I believe there is a place of luck (though as a Christian, I would call it Divine favour ) but still, some situations happen in which I win something over fellow 'true' Christians...should we now say they dont have divine favour?

I agree that there is a place of luck, even in divine favour...abi why did God choose Jacob over Esau? When they've not yet done anything to deserve or not to deserve such.

But I dont live my life based on luck. I wave it aside and focus on parts that I can control- hardwork, patience, persistence etc and let fate takes it cause...even if luck would later help me.
I dont base my actions on the conscious existence of 'luck' and do not need chanting: 'Goodluck to me, Goodluck to you and Goodluck to Nigeria'.

But is luck not woven around a broader concept called Destiny or Fate?

there is nothing like 'divine favour', the word is 'grace'.

I don't believe in luck but grace. No man should be proud in whatever he achieves. Saying you were lucky means you did the act successful by your own power but saying it was by grace, you give the glory to God.

I know there are demons on nairaland who would rather stick with luck as they have no regard for God or anything he stands for.

Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be..) To hellll Luck!

Jarus:

Prepared himself for it by knowing Alams will be impeached and Yar'adua will die, right?

Opportunity is the rightful term there not luck . And you know what , opportunity will never come , rather you seek for it - It takes a prepared person to meet an opportunity, that's exactly what happened in his case .

" It takes innovation to become prepared and it takes a prepared person to meet an opportunity . If you cannot innovate ; imitate .
"

I don't believe in luck. If an individual believes he is lucky then what's the use of working. I think it's all about opportunity. So the real question is if when ur opportunity comes, will u recognize it?

Ur ability to recognize ur opportunity will determine how successful u'll be.

Afterall, going by the OP xperience if after his sister bought the university form for him he decides to spend the extra year in school, where then is the luck?
Everyone on earth has @ one time or another been offered opportunity.

no, i dont believe in luck.

even though i use the word occasionally.

Cultured:



Jonathan did not ascend to the top in his political career through luck , rather he prepared himself and sought for the opportunities ( directly or indirectly ) and when they materialized he grabbed them . Innovation is the key .

true that.

he didnt really "grab" them per se, key word here is "prepare".

Yes; Partially. It still boils down to hardwork.

50 pple left 9ja same day,same time,same truck only 5 made it to Spain,d others died on d way as d ship capsized,where is handwork N preparation here?.

I blive in right place at d right time,but sometimes 2 pple can b at same place same time but sometime good/bad thing happen to one and leave d other.

sucessful1: 50 pple left 9ja same day,same time,same truck only 5 made it to Spain,d others died on d way as d ship capsized,where is handwork N preparation here?.

I blive in right place at d right time,but sometimes 2 pple can b at same place same time but sometime good/bad thing happen to one and leave d other.

To the best of my knowledge " FATE " is different from " LUCK " .

sucessful1: 50 pple left 9ja same day,same time,same truck only 5 made it to Spain,d others died on d way as d ship capsized,where is handwork N preparation here?.

I blive in right place at d right time,but sometimes 2 pple can b at same place same time but sometime good/bad thing happen to one and leave d other.

True that, however, if everybody who set out for spain arrived there, their home countries would soon empty and the destination country would soon be crowded. May the dead rip.

Best thing is to pray to not be helpless pawns in the hands of your fellow man.

Cultured:

I'm more interested in knowing why you made the following statement , I quote you " very funny how human think, anyway you reason like a human you are " - Honestly , I don't know what makes you think that your own personal opinion is more superior than mine or that of other people who doesn't believe in luck , since you too is a human being . That being said , I still hold on my stance that there is no such thing as luck in my life dictionary , perhaps what I term innovation may mean luck to you. As far as am concerned ,Innovation has always bring to me tremendous success in all I do. Does that mean that I don't recognize " divine grace " ? No .

Jonathan did not ascend to the top in his political career through luck , rather he prepared himself and sought for the opportunities ( directly or indirectly ) and when they materialized he grabbed them . Innovation is the key .

jonathan prepared himself? In which way? Impeaching the governor when he was a deputy or killing yaradua? Was jonathan the only person whom prepared himself ? What happened to others? Why is he the chosen one?

I've seen people toil all their lives,do the right thing and yet has nothing to show for it,and I've seen people slept a pauper and woke up a millionaire

There's luck but I don't depend on it

fubbyy: jonathan prepared himself? In which way? Impeaching the governor when he was a deputy or killing yaradua? Was jonathan the only person whom prepared himself ? What happened to others? Why is he the chosen one?

I've seen people toil all their lives,do the right thing and yet has nothing to show for it,and I've seen people slept a pauper and woke up a millionaire

There's luck but I don't depend on it

Have you heard of the word " OPPORTUNITY " before ? As I said somewhere above , opportunity will never come, rather you seek for it , and it takes a prepared person to do so .

Once more , I say " It takes innovation to become prepared and it takes a prepared person to seek for opportunity .

[quote author=Jarus]Michael
Taiwo, PhD


Many people deride the role luck has played in their success. They even
deny having any! Some are embarrassed by the idea that they are lucky
and others are annoyed if an attempt is ever made to show how luck has
factored into their achievement. The leadership literature has not made
matters any easier. Leadership gurus flood the market with clichés like
‘Luck is when preparation meets opportunity’, or ‘I have found out that
the harder I work the luckier I become’, or ‘Luck is the residue of
design.’ It is against this tide of conventional wisdom that I wish to
swim. And this article is the first I will write in a three-part series
to take a shot at this misguided popular opinion. I am going to argue
here, and in the two articles coming after this one, that all successful
endeavors have luck to thank. No one – whether an individual, a team or
a nation – would be successful without luck and if you disagree with
this statement then I have you right where I want you: the other side.

Some religious folks have strongly objected to the use of the word
“luck”. They believe it is a sacrilegious attempt at giving credit to an
unknown. They prefer to use “favor,” “blessed,” “God’s mercies,” or any
other term that ascribes their success to an “Other.” This “Other” is
usually a know-all, be-all Deity. His omniscient, omnipotent and
omnipresent powers order the universe and assign men their fates. I have
no problem with that. In fact, with respect to my argument, we are on
the same page. Why? Because we both agree that whatever goodies we have
were not all purchased by our sweat but by something outside of
ourselves that we have absolutely no control over. After all, can you
control God? So to my religious friends, I will say you should please
humor me and let me carry on with the word “luck” knowing full well that
we are both saying the same thing. Don’t let us get caught up with the
semantics. Isn’t it Shakespeare that said “What’s in a name? that which
we call a rose By any other name will smell as sweet?”

I look at my own life and gladly acknowledge the role luck has played. I
got into the University a year ahead of my high school friends not
because I was smarter or more far-sighted but simply because of
Serendipity. My elder sister was about to write JAMB (the entrance exam
into Nigeria’s colleges and universities) and when she got to where she
would purchase the exam application forms realized she had enough money
for two forms and thought “What the heck? I can buy one for my kid
brother too. There’s no harm in letting him try early.” I seized that
opportunity and worked my butt off to score just enough to be offered an
admission into my dream department at my dream school. You could say I
got into college when I did because I “worked my butt off” but what if
my sister didn’t have enough money for two forms? What if she had but
didn’t think of me when buying hers? I never said hard work wasn’t part
of the success equation; my point is that luck is very much a part too.

I also think of how I got my current job. I had applied for the same job
online with no luck and I got the classic “Sorry, after looking at your
resume, we regret to inform you that you have not been considered for
the job” response. A few months later, at a Geoscientists’ conference, I
ran into a recruiter from the same company that rejected my online
application; she took one look at my resume and said “I have a job for
you!” Nothing had changed in those intervening months: I was still the
same me, doing the same research, having the same GPA and working at the
same rate. The only difference now was that I happened to be at the
right place at the right time talking to the right person. I was lucky
to be at the conference. I am not a Geoscientist but I have friends who
thought it okay to invite me. I was lucky to meet a recruiter who knew
exactly what the company was looking for and quickly saw a fit. (I have
since found out not all recruiters are that competent.) I got a Chemical
Engineering job at a Geoscientist conference. Yes, I am lucky.

Look, my point is that in trying to extol the virtues of hardwork,
resilience and planning we have swung too far to the other side. We have
become extremists in expressing those views and we have almost made
luck a vice. Whereas, in the daily grind of life, we over and again find
that it ain’t just so! You need to be at least a little lucky to
survive in this world and you definitely need a large dose of it to
thrive, to have your place among the very best. It is about time you
came off your high horse and humbly accept: yes, I was lucky.

P.S.
In my next article, I will write on “The many faces of Luck” and in the
last article of this Luck series I will go a bit more philosophical and
touch on “Our Struggle with Luck.” I am really excited to share these
with you and can’t wait to hear

I believe I am lucky as explained by the writer, although as a religionist, I prefer to use "God's favour" to luck. I have got so many things that I knew I wasn't better that some guys who didn't get them.

Cultured:


To the best of my knowledge " FATE " is different from " LUCK " .

All are nomenclature, as teh writer noted.

Michael taiwo now a PhD, am so happy for you.

Success in life is not based on luck, not even hardwork.It is based on PRINCIPLES (LAWS). Somebody said GEJ became v.p b/c he was lucky but the truth is he understood a principle called LOYALTY. Bible says my people(christians alike)suffer for lack of knowledge not lack of luck or favour.Even enjoying divine favour requires ur understing and application of divine laws as revealed in God's word.

Yes.

I thank jarus for d topic today. I equally appreciate d contrbutions of Nairalanders on this. My
Candid opinion is that weather you call it luck, devine favour, grace, providence etc we are almost referring to d same thing, in that we are acknowledging d existence of an unusual and unnatural hand/force. As for me there is luck, grace etc. And it controls everything that humans do. Take it or leave it one can be sleeping and at d right time be woken up and indirectly guided to d gate to meet his destiny waiting for him. Or how else can you explain why an indigent, poor boy could b picked up in a crowd during campaign/rally and b given scholarship. The bible made us to understand that 'I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy'.

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We are just who we are

[size=25pt]a real man creates his own luck!! [/size]

If you don't believe in luck, how then do you explain the success of your enemies

LUCK...labour Under Correct Knowledge.
No doubt, luck exists!

Luck is inter-wooven in the corners of destiny or fate.