THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LUCK, FATE, OR DESTINY
This trio functions to strip away human talent, brains, and ingenuity and reduce individual achievements to flailing against the inevitable. They don’t give us enough credit.
There is no such thing as luck, fate or destiny. While they make for a good band name (called it), luck, fate and destiny rather disingenuously offer us comfort by suggesting there is some sort of purpose hidden within the chaos. They are liars. What is so insidious about this trio is they function to strip away human talent, brains, and ingenuity and reduce individual achievements to flailing against the inevitable. They don’t give us enough credit.
Just look at this motley crew of skeptics :
Luck: The belief that chance is a force that causes good or bad things to happen.
Fate: The belief that events are predetermined.
Destiny: The belief that outcomes are predetermined.
The world does not conspire against you. It does not purposely hurt or help. The world simply... is. It is random and chaotic without forethought, malice or preference. Everything on the planet - the animals, plants, weather... everything - does its own thing in its own way in its own time. The planet does not have a central brain that controls what happens on its surface. The planet is a rock. We are just riding on it.
Picture, if you will, a ball pit (you know, kinda looks like a pool, but it is filled with balls rather than water). In this ball pit are an equal amount of yellow, red, and blue balls. Let us also say that touching a yellow ball is a good thing, touching a red ball is a bad thing, and touching a blue ball is… meh. Now picture yourself jumping into this pit.
Luck would have you believe that you will be more or less inclined to touch yellow balls based on your inherent attraction to yellow balls.
Fate would suggest that, before you even jump into the pit, you are going to touch a predetermined amount of yellow, red, and blue balls.
Destiny implies that you are going to touch those predetermined amount of balls regardless if you swan dive, cannonball, or wade into the pit.
This is, of course, a load of hooey. The random and chaotic nature of ball pits renders the luck, fate, and destiny of touching yellow balls moot almost to the point of laughable. The reality is that you are probably going to touch as many yellow balls as red and blue ones. And, if you really want to touch as many yellow balls as possible, that is completely up to you.
We have talked about how you strive for what you value: whatever you put value on and how you set out to achieve it, is completely up to you. You will place effort (time, money, concentration) on getting to what you value. As you do, luck, fate, and destiny will play more of a role in your success not because they are some phantom force, but because of your actions. Once you add your talent, brains, and ingenuity to the mix, luck, fate, and destiny, take on a whole new meaning.
LUCK IS PREPAREDNESS MEETING OPPORTUNITY
When you strive for what you value, you gain certain skill sets: you learn what to do, what not to do, gain inside information (because you’re interested), and all sorts of other advantages over people who do not value what you value. When an opportunity presents itself for something you value, you have the tools to take advantage of that opportunity more than others who haven’t gained that skill set because they don’t value what you do. That ain’t luck. That’s accumulated knowledge flexing its muscles.
Sure, there are moments when people absolutely bumble themselves into a good thing, but that is simply a beneficial coincidence. That ain’t luck. In a world of infinite possibilities, where anything and everything is possible, good fortune is part of the equation. You may say, “That is the very definition of ‘luck’”. But standing around waiting for a gold plated meteor to smack you in the head is a dumb way of achieving anything. Luck implies that you don't have to do anything and good things will simply befall you. Nope. You gotta put yourself in luck’s way.
FATE IS THE CULMINATION OF ALL YOUR DECISIONS
As you strive for what you value, you make decisions to get to that goal. Opportunities present themselves. You either take them or you don’t. Some of your efforts succeed. Some of them fail. As the chaos of the world swirls around you, your decisions - your decisions alone - will define the outcome of your life.
DESTINY IS DAMN GOOD PLANNING
When you finally achieve your goal, it didn’t happen by chance. It happened by and through your efforts. Every decision you made led to this place. If you really want to achieve what you value, the best thing to do is make a goal and take steps toward it. Even if you want to spend your afternoon splashing around in mud puddles. Destiny didn’t put you up to your ankles in rain water. You made that happen.
The world works in complete random coincidences. These coincidences happen all the time. It is a part of our daily life much the way we breath air. Some may wish to call these coincidences “luck”, “fate”, or “destiny”, but they are not. Do not overcomplicate a very simple reality: the world has no plan for you (or anyone else). It is going to be here whether you are or not.
Whenever something good happens to you, when you make the right decision, or the outcome was a success, give yourself some credit. Life doesn't happen to you. You happen to it.