Luck Has Nothing To Do With It

My Dad was walking out the door for a meeting essential to the survival of his company and said, "Wish me luck!" I turned to look at him directly and said "Dad, luck has nothing to do with it."

This seemed to upset him, as it meant the recent falter of his business was essentially his fault. People don't want to take responsibility for their failures and are hesistant to believe they are the true cause of their success. Thus humanity conceived fate, an outside force out of our control, which lessens the burden placed on the shoulders of humanity. If we fail, it is not fully our fault, as there were variables out of our hands.

I have come to turns with the knowledge that fate is an illusion. It skews the reality that we have full control of our lives, and we can predict the future by making it whatever we want. Just as Siddhartha is scared by his sudden awakening, the realization that he is utterly alone in the world, this scared me. To know that my successes and failures were completely my doing is unnerving, I was not previously used to that sort of responsibility. However, now in times of crisis I know that for guidance and success, I need not look up towards the heavens, but within.