As a sceptic, I have my doubts about the phenomenon of luck. I don’t always believe in it and my reasons were formed and solidified when I was in Third Grade, the time when my uncle came to Macau to visit my family.
He was a fashionable young man in his late twenties, working as a teacher by day, and a musician who performed to a hip young crowd at night. To me, he had all the makings of a cool uncle. I could not be happier when he decided to leave me a gift before he left for home, which was one of his most prized possessions— his “good luck necklace”.
The necklace had a round silver pendant, though age had mostly darkened it at that point. It had a symbol in the middle, which he said was Greek, though I don’t remember what it stood for. He had bought it from an antique shop during his first year of college and since then, he wore it to every important event, exam and performance, and according to him, he could not expect anything but the best of results.
With pure luck on his side, the necklace, as he recounted, helped him ace his exams throughout college, meet people, and land gigs that drew audiences, among others. He even pointed out small instances of finding change on the ground when he needed it. Luck followed him and he felt fortunate when he had the necklace on, it seems.
“It’s been through a lot with me and I think it is time that it benefits someone else”, he said. “Wear it every day and luck will just come your way”. But it didn’t.
I did not suddenly find change on the ground, nor did I magically get better at guitar or get the attention of a girl that I liked. Days that needed sunlight only promised rain, while simple arcade games that promised large prizes yielded no winnings.
At school, my teacher did not like me more than she did before, and thankfully not less than she already did. As for my grades and performance, I started to think that no amount of luck could actually fix that, particularly when maths was involved. Games of tag and hide-and-seek also usually ended with bitterness after being the “unluckiest” player among my friends. A year would pass and life was mostly the same and had a lot of downs. Had I been duped?
Eventually, this greatly factored into why I have my doubts about believing in luck, along with the hope I held out that the necklace would work its magic as I wore it. I realised that luck does not have a lot to do with anything, but work, on the other hand, did. Acing an exam is not simply done without studying, while winning at sports or games and getting better at certain skills has more to do with hard work and practice. Instances of pure luck may not be the case when something good happens to someone, instead being something more of a result of effort. Sometimes, it might also be pure coincidence and good timing.
Although I don’t purely discredit luck, nor do I pass on opportunities to listen to someone’s story about why they believe in it, I will always have my doubts, which all started with a supposedly “lucky” necklace.
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