Beshoo asks: Why do I have lots of bad luck (sometimes)?
Hi Beshoo –
Well, I can’t tell you why this is true, but the answer is – because you exist! Everyone has lots of bad luck, especially sometimes. Even what seem to the luckiest people in the world do. Sports heroes have bad days on the field, movie stars get rejected for a role or get terrible reviews or (worst of all) no one comes to a movie they did, I’ll bet even that Uggie who everyone’s so in love with right now – the little dog in the movie “The Artist” – I’ll bet even he gets a flea now and then!
The deeper answer though (and I’ve never thought of this before, so thank you for asking such a great question!) is that you can only have bad luck if you want something. If Uggie wants to be comfortable, and a rotten little flea gets under his collar and he can’t scratch it away no matter what he does, that’s bad luck. But if Uggie didn’t want to be comfortable, if he had no sense of feeling, then that tiny bug wouldn’t be bad luck to him at all. Similarly, if you’re playing a game and the dice come up a way you don’t like on every roll, that’s only bad luck because you want to win. And when I see a squirrel and run as hard as I can to catch it, but suddenly get pulled back by the leash that I’d totally forgotten is attaching my neck to Handsome’s hand, that’s bad luck for me – but only because I want to catch that sassy little rodent!
And of course, Beshoo, we want to want! Wanting is what makes life real! If a plant doesn’t want sunlight, it won’t grow leaves and lean towards the light; if a student doesn’t want to do well, she won’t try to get the right answers; and if a tennis player doesn’t want to win, he won’t try to run to that difficult ball. Wanting is what gives your life meaning, it’s what gives you meaning. And because you want, whenever you can’t get what you want, you’ll be disappointed. And (if it’s not for a clear reason, like because you didn’t try hard enough) you’ll call that bad luck.
So why do you have lots of bad luck sometimes? It’s because you care, because you want, because you try… it’s because you’re really alive. So while it’s never any fun to have lots of bad luck, just think about how much worse it would be to not want – which would mean you’d never have bad luck. This is waaaaay better!
Thanks Again (and good luck!),
Shirelle