When you ace an assignment you weren’t too confident in or when you find a dollar bill on the street, do you consider yourself lucky? Maybe a higher power is on your side, but in these situations, I consider myself lucky.
But is luck a concrete tool we use to our advantage? Or is it all a mind game? Popular Science defines luck as a person’s “own positive attitude that keeps [them] open to new opportunities or perceiving patterns in random acts of chance.” By definition, luck sounds simple—stay positive and good things will happen come your way!
With St. Patrick’s Day on my mind, I reached out to my friends to find out if they believed luck was real, and if they had accomplished anything out of pure chance. Of the 164 respondents to my Instagram poll, 146 of them believe in luck (that’s 86%). Only 79 of them went on to answer my next question: Do you carry a good luck charm? Thirty-six people responded yes.
When I asked them to tell me about a time they believed themselves to be lucky, most responses indicated that “randomness” or “chance” guided them to the outcome of the situation. Some said that carrying a “good luck charm,” such as a coin, jewelry, or a button, makes them feel more likely to succeed in everyday situations.
A number of people said that randomly choosing a school led them to meet their some of their greatest friends or significant other. Being born in a country that gives its citizens rights and freedoms was another common answer—an answer that surprised me. We often forget how lucky we are to have been born into a country that gives us so many opportunities and privileges.
Each respondent told me pretty awesome stories—some of them hard to believe.
My friend Becca told me about the time she went to a “Saturday Night Live” taping. “I was late to SNL and ended up being given VIP tickets,” she said. “Then I was pulled to sit on the floor!”
During senior year, my friend Maeve didn’t get into her “dream school.” She loves the school she goes to now and believes it’s where she is “meant to be;” concrete proof that everything does happen for a reason.
My roommate Sam told me about a charm her grandmom gave her in third grade when she started dancing. “She gave me a little elephant with its trunk up as a charm. Every audition I’ve ever been to since then, I keep it in my pocket. And, sure enough, every time it’s gotten me the part.”
So, whether you believe in luck or think St. Paddy’s Day is a bunch of bogus, may the chances of the universe ever be in your favor.