I'm a spiritual person, but not necessarily a religious one. However, the way I interpreted the quote was, "I'm not lucky, you have no idea how hard I've worked for this." Now, think about that for a minute.
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| Very serious thinking face. |
I hear so often people say, "Wow, you're so lucky... blah blah blah," and now thinking about it, I realize how unfair that statement really is. To project that luck is the root cause for success negates the time, effort, sacrifice, dedication, etc that the achievement actually took. People mean the statement as a compliment, but in fact, it is anything but.
My parents have worked hard their whole lives. I mean, hard. They're still working hard. Long hours. Crazy commutes. Dangerous situations, at times. My father, a retired Federal Agent, was part of the response team for 9/11, was part of the response team for the Anthrax attack in NYC and in Hamilton, NJ, was part of the response team for Hurricane Katrina. He worked on the Unibomber case. He led Special Entry task forces to enter into dangerous territories for drug busts and other felonious crimes. And my mom is the Vice President of a large hospital. But the job wasn't handed to her, she worked her way up from a part time Respiratory Therapist. She worked her way up the corporate ladder from the bottom, even beyond her own education, forcing her to work, not only a full work week well beyond 40 hours, but to pursue her Masters Degree at night. She's battled fierce weather to be at the hospital to make sure it is properly staffed with an administrator-on-call. She's responsible for the construction of a brand new hospital for when hers was taken over in a merger. She was also the only administrator that the new Board kept on staff. Long story short, my parents personify hard work.
The reason I went through that very long explanation is because we are blessed with some very nice things in our lives. We have a beautiful home, we've taken some amazing vacations, we all have cars, and food, and you know, stuff. And I now realize how offensive it is to presume that it was luck that brought all of these things to us. My parents have worked their asses off for what they have. They have earned every dollar. They are generous and share their things and their lives with their family and friends. Even more than money, my parents have invested in their relationship with one another (they've been together since they're 14 - I know, madness right?) and invested time and love into our family, which is the greatest blessing of them all.
Long story short, it isn't luck. It's hard work. It's sacrifice. It's so much more than serendipity or fate. You make your own luck. You make your own fate. I just wish more people would be cognizant of this idea and maybe jealousy wouldn't be running so rampant. Or maybe it would, I don't know. But I'd like to imagine that if people really took a minute to consider what it takes to have a good life, a stable job, and a solid family life, they'd realize that these aren't usually things that people are handed. And if they are, they are very rarely held on to for long without hard work. So think about that next time you're thinking that "the grass is greener on the other side," - maybe that grass isn't growing in green on its own. Maybe the owner of the other side is meticulously caring for that lawn beyond what you can see.
