Have you felt lucky before? Or perhaps you’ve felt unlucky? What is this phenomenon that seems to define our good and bad experiences? The Cambridge English dictionary defines luck as ‘the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen to you by chance and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities’.
The Buddha considered that everything lucky or unlucky that happened to a person was the result of a specific cause and not due to luck, chance or fate. Luck is often associated with being rich or winning something.
The Buddha taught that good luck is about training your mind so that you can observe with clarity and that cherishing your family, helping others and developing your mind is more important than good fortune.
Buddha is often confused with the laughing Buddha who was a Chinese Buddhist monk and is represented by a gold laughing statue. According to legend, if one rubs the Laughing Buddha’s belly, it will bring you good luck, happiness and prosperity. There are plenty of other superstitions out there including lucky charms such as four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, rabbit feet and the lucky number seven.
Apart from rubbing Buddha’s belly and wearing good luck charms, is there another way in which you can catch a lucky break? Some people believe that a positive mindset has a lot to do with lucky outcomes.
How Does Luck Work?
This isn’t a specific formula for luck and how it works. Some people believe luck is engineered by a higher power while others believe that luck is driven by having a positive mindset and a positive perception of the world. If it is a given birthright, as some argue, then it can’t be tampered with and we should let fate take its course. But what if we can influence our chances of luck by altering our mindset?
Can you Influence Luck?
Many scientists argue that you can influence your chances of receiving good fortune by having a more positive attitude. They suggest that luck is not a kind of magic – it is something that can be controlled by you.
Usually, those who receive luck and good fortune are happy, outgoing individuals who have a positive perception of the world. If they wake up and spill coffee down their favorite shirt, they get changed and throw on another one without grumbling. An unlucky person is usually one who always sees the downside to life.
They are the type of person who will let one small incident like spill coffee ruin their entire day, claiming that they are ‘unlucky’.
Steps to Improve your Good Fortune
The first step to maximizing your luck is by broadening your opportunities. Don’t be too focused on what you have and don’t have. Enjoy the process of growing and never fear taking risks. Taking risks puts you outside of your comfort zone and usually leads to new and bigger opportunities and new pathways. Be open-minded, be fearless and do not be worried about the unknown.
Secondly, always listen to your infamous ‘gut feeling’, as it has picked up on vibrations and feelings that you can’t see or hear. Reconnecting with your subconscious mind can lead you to good fortune. Fortunate people listen to the signals that their body and mind send, and they learn how to read them correctly. Clear your mind of anxiety and doubts and practice meditation.
Thirdly, expect good luck and lucky events to happen! Believe that you are a lucky person and that you are going to receive an abundance of good fortune. Having a positive and optimistic attitude can greatly impact your life and help you perceive things in a more positive way. If you think you’re lucky, you’re going to attract luck!
Lastly, comes the idea of serendipity, which is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. You can increase your prospects of lucky chances by changing aspects of your daily routine. For example, taking a different route to work or undertaking a new hobby. Doing things differently broadens the border of having an ordinary life and allows for new experiences and opportunities.
