Thursday, December 14, 2006

Serendipity-doo-dah

Woody Allen’s thriller, Match Point, is about luck. (The protagonist’s baby is born and wished “luck” which, after sitting through the lengthy lead-up to the movie’s end, we understand is the best thing a person can hope for). Some people have it; some don’t. It seems to me that most of us are luck-neutral and pass through life’s ups and downs without much thought about them being more than “life” itself.

I have a child who is lucky. In many ways, he makes his own good fortune because he is brighter than most, a social mensch and in most other ways quite able. The world is his oyster. He never thought about any of this while he was growing up, for it no doubt seemed to him that he was no different than any of his friends and acquaintances. The awareness of his luck came gradually sometime during his twenties after a string of serendipitous events landed him in the enviable position of earning a six-figure salary doing a job he absolutely loves – despite being a history major.

Now, at age 29, he has begun to think about this girl called Lady Luck. Although previously taken for granted, he begins to appreciate her part in his life, and - like a lover who has become too comfortable in his love affair - begins to consider what it might mean to lose her. This new awareness doesn’t hang heavy on him, but perhaps it is beginning to slightly color his decision-making. Maybe that’s a sign of maturity. Maybe it’s a good thing; but if one stops taking good luck for granted - if one settles for present comfort rather than risking the unknown (and the chance that his luck will run out) - does life cease to be serendipitous?

8 comments:

russkal said...

"if one stops taking good luck for granted - if one settles for present comfort rather than risking the unknown (and the chance that his luck will run out) - does life cease to be serendipitous?"

Amen to that.

Jeez... would you believe I spent 6 hours researching, posting, and editing, and posting again, and revising, and posting my latest post?

Man, blogging is hard work!

Anonymous said...

Seems to me Lady Luck and I had a falling out when I was 39, ten years older than your son.

But, like manna falling from the sky, I've had just enough luck to get by these past ten years, or so.

It's just that bullet-proff protective bubble doesn't seem to be there like it once was.

Anonymous said...

You make a vaild point but I wonder if you question luck too much or examine it too closely do you run the risk of losing it? You know, the old never look a gift horse in the mouth thing.

Citymouse said...

Id rather be lucky than good! (I can always work at getting better!)

I think he is just growing up and now is begining to know he doesnt know it all

Judy said...

Russkal - As you wrote in your blog, "Filipinos are generally, happy people. We smile, even when we have problems. We laugh, even at times of crisis. We crack jokes about our own trials and tribulations." Doesn't this reflect a trust in Lady Luck?

Craig D - May Lady Luck pay you a kindly visit (and not bring you any more friends like "Tiny")...

Whim - You have such a talent for condensing paragraphs into the one perfect phrase: my whole post reduced to "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!" Well put.

Citymouse - You are a wise one. That's what I find in your blog: wisdom. And yes, being good is WAY over-rated!

Radioactive Tori said...

I always feel that things will work out exactly as they were meant to. I don't think that is luck, but another part to just trusting things to be. I feel I'm pretty lucky, which is sort of funny to others because I just had cancer, and have a son with medical problems (thank you for your kind words, by the way!) I think sometimes luck is what you make of it. If you feel like you are a lucky person, then you are.

russkal said...

I may have misunderstood the phrase I quoted. I can tell you however, that I do believe in luck. I acknowledge that I have been lucky in life, many times over.

I am lucky to have a good-paying job, in a career that I love, even though I didn't graduate from college.

I am fortunate to have two healthy, beautiful children - a boy and a girl.

I am an impulsive person. Almost everything I do, I did because of passion. And in many times, it brought me into trying situations, and yet Lady Luck never ceased to rescue me from sinking in my own shithole.

What I don't believe though, is destiny. The notion that our lives are mapped out, long before we were born. I believe that you create your own.

DirkStar said...

I can't get many blogs to load today and your site simply will not accept my comments...