Lucky Me?
Happy Saint Patrick's Day! But it's time to stop relying on luck.
by HANNAH KARLIN ★ MARCH 17, 2022
With the arrival of Spring break, we obviously are all thinking about St. Patty's Day. While we all are planning outfits for the holiday, we also all think about luck. No, not the Lucky Charms cereal box that notoriously gets incorporated into pictures but the lucky four-leaf clover.
Luck is a powerful concept. We use it to identify who we are, justify our misfortunes, and strengthen our aspirations. Unfortunately, some common expressions tend to be "I am just an unlucky person," "I didn't get the internship because of bad luck," or "Please let me be lucky and get asked out on a second date." As much as luck has become an established concept in our minds, it's time to dismantle this dependency. The time has come to start relying on ourselves.
Sometimes it may feel like you can never attain your goals, and trust me, I get it. We can't ever catch a break. So when this cycle seems never to end, we attribute it to who we are. Our identities come from a variety of factors—luck not being one. When something undesirable occurs, it cannot change one's persona. We are still courageous, kind, and hardworking people.
On another note, we should not use luck to justify our failure. Personal or external aspects can cause failure. In all honesty, maybe you didn't do as well in the presentation as you thought. Or maybe, the campus club already had too many members. Despite the reasoning, we cannot attribute bad luck to our perceptions. Instead, we can productively acknowledge the failure, allow time to emotionally cope, and get back on our feet without luck weighing us down.
We also cannot rely on luck to get us where we want to be. It's all about our initiative to achieve our goals. Regarding relationships, whether they are familial, romantic, or friendship-based, they take work. Forming relationships includes allotting time and effort. We can't just expect them to form, hoping for the best. Another example can be as simple as planning a spring break trip with friends. If you want to have a girl's trip to Miami, you must secure the room and flights ahead of time. You cannot just hope that the trip will work out with luck. Similarly to anything in life, it takes preparation.
For upcoming Saint Patrick's Day and in general, we must understand the implications of luck. So, let's still dress up in green and gold and celebrate the holiday, but also take to heart this new perspective.
Cover Photo Credit: Pinterest