a meditation on luck and chance

                  Carley Ferguson

Is luck a real thing? Do people really get lucky? Or is it just a coincidence sometimes that no one knows how to explain? For example, am I lucky because I was born in the United States and therefore have basic human rights, or should we call that a privilege? Am I lucky because I got a few questions correct on that exam I was unprepared for, or was it just a rare statistical outcome? Maybe luck is so hard to define or explain because it can have so many meanings. Hoping to have good luck on a quiz is not really comparable to hoping to have good luck on a cancer screening. Luck is sometimes what brings us comfort in life, it’s like our safety net—“maybe I will get lucky.” Even if the odds are completely unfavorable, it still gives us hope. I personally believe that luck and hope are interchangeable in most cases. Although one should not take luck for granted, at the same time one should not turn a blind eye to luck. I am a female, who is able to attend a university, vote, and drive a car; is it lucky that I have these privileges? Yes—but it is also a harsh reality check of those unlucky ones. I am happy and privileged to be this lucky with the life I have, but with this good luck comes a responsibility to those who are unlucky and the many things that could and should be done to help them.