I get tired of hearing people say that luck determines how good your life is. There is a bit of luck to it, but luck only goes so far. You also need to make intelligent decisions, too.

I was lucky enough to be born in the United States. I was lucky enough to be raised in a house with a television set that tuned into PBS when PBS started showing Sesame Street, and I was lucky that my parents plopped me down in front of that set when Sesame Street was on. I was also lucky enough to be able to watch The Price is Right and figure out that the college kids on that show seemed like the kind of people I wanted to be. (But I was intelligent enough to decide that if I wanted to be like those happy college students, I'd have to go to college, and I was also able to figure out that learning stuff, such as the stuff they taught on Sesame Street, would allow me to get to college.) I was lucky enough to watch 3-2-1 Contact, which planted the seed of my passion for science. (But I was intelligent enough to decide that science would be a good thing to learn in college.)

I was lucky enough to have a free education, and the government required that I attend even when I didn't want to go to school. I was lucky enough to have parents that made me go no matter how much I cried about it. (But I was intelligent enough to realize that if I had to be there, then I had to do my best while I was there.) I was lucky enough to be exposed to people, like teachers and friends, who inspired me to do something great with my life. (But I was intelligent enough to decide to actually follow the advice of those who were happy and successful and avoid the advice of those who were obviously going down the wrong path.)

I'm lucky that I met my husband. (But I was intelligent enough to decide to date him and to recognize what a perfect guy he is and to learn and apply relationship skills, so I wouldn't lose him.)

I'm lucky that I was able to have children. I'm lucky that they didn't have autism or downs syndrome or some other similar disorder. (But I was intelligent enough to study child development and parenting skills, so I could be the best parent I could be and help them be the best kids they can be, even if other parents and teachers think that I'm a paranoid, overprotective mother.)

I'm lucky that I haven't had some horrible accident or illness that disabled me from my writing passion, my computer passion, or my designing-stuff passion. (But I was intelligent enough to make an effort to improve my skills and figure out how to make money from them.)

Luck says, "Here's an opportunity." Wisdom says, "Thanks, I'll take it."

I get tired of hearing so many people complain about their bad luck when time after time, luck has presented opportunities to them. They just weren't wise enough to take them.

But then again, maybe those of us with the wisdom to seize opportunities are simply lucky enough to be wise. We were lucky enough to make that connection in our brain, "A+B really does = C." Maybe we were lucky enough to have somebody tell us that A+B=C, or maybe we were just lucky enough to figure it out on our own.

Labels: Deep Thoughts and Philosophy