If Luck Is a Lady, She Must Be Courted Like One

By ZAHRA KHAN

Hi, I have some opinions and the internet is an unbiased, unconditionally supportive community where I can share them.

Finding suitable jobs and internships is getting increasingly more difficult without the added pressure of a pandemic. It’s made me count my blessings. But only because there is absolutely nothing else to do.

It has also made me write this academic piece on why I don’t like the normalization of calling successful, hard-working people, "lucky." It’s what we use to describe our situation when we feel overwhelmed by good fortune. Yet, it implies that our blessings are passive earnings and ignores the work that went into them.

I’m with whoever said, “the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I just Google’d it: Thomas Jefferson. Makes sense since he also wrote “life, liberty and the pursuit of Lady Luck.” Thanks, TJ. If luck is a lady, she must be courted like one. So beat T-Pain to the punch and buy her a drink. If you don’t believe me, take it from our Founding Father's example. He did write it, after all, and I’m a writer so I always cite my work (Khan, 2021). And hey, if you do well and she likes you, by the end of the night you just might get lucky. (Don’t be mad about the pun, this is the content you can come to expect from me.)

The more effort you put into your passions, the more you open yourself up for opportunity to come knocking on your door. Well. These days you’d be fortunate if it pulled up to your curb and texted you, “here,” annoyed by the inconvenience of leaving its car. If luck is a lady, opportunity is a millennial.

I guess my point here is, and I am guessing, it doesn’t matter where you think you ought to be at this point in your life or five years from now. Odds are you’re definitely wrong. You were five years ago about now, pandemic and all. Don’t credit me for that last one, I borrowed it from a Weight Watchers post. Yes, I did lose nine pounds, thank you for noticing.

Closing arguments/TLDR; Create your own opportunities. Being proactive now looks better on a resume versus when corona was just a Mexican beer and I liked living at home. Lastly, luck is manifested, opportunity owns an iPhone and Diet Coke is a zero-point food group (Weight Watchers, 2021).

Adios,

Zahra