What is luck?
Folks talk about “the luck of the draw”. Or, “I just got lucky”. Or, “you makes your own luck”.
The Roman philosopher Seneca said this of Luck, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” I first heard this epigram from a senior systems advisor at my former employer, Imperial Oil Limited. I was auditing a workshop on our brand spanky new employee appraisal process. I was attending in two roles. As the Western Canadian manager of Computer Technology Training I ensured I knew the content so I was prepared for any questions from front-line managers. And, as an employ myself, I made sure I was up to speed on “the rules”. Esso was big on ensuring fairness by laying down processes and rules. In my humble opinion, the fairness standard went down with the Exxon Valdez.
But, I digress. Is luck a matter of our own perspective, as Seneca seems to suggest?
Yes and no. And, what has this to do with why my surviving the car crash was lucky?
Let’s talk about the preparation phase of getting lucky.
* * * You’ll have to wait a bit for the big reveal. The answer to how I prepared for the CRASH! is contined in the chapter “Luck is When”. CRASH! Will be published in the fall of 2017. Measwhile sign up for snippets from the book and news of author events.
