good luck...

I’ve often said that I don’t believe in luck. I was commenting on my luck recently and my son threw it back at me, “I don’t believe in luck.” I grinned and considered how to answer that challenge. What follows is my clarification, because like my son, I don’t really believe in luck (as most define it) either.

The problem with communication here is that I can see at least two reasonable definitions of “luck.”

One is that luck is some supernatural force that either “smiles” on us, or leaves us cold, as the song goes, “…if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all… born under a bad sign…”

This is the definition of luck that I don’t subscribe to. I know that many do, but I believe that karma (balance), destiny (our best potentials), and fate (the result , on the other side of the = sign, of our life's equation) direct our lives (that is to say, we direct our own lives), rather than the above view of “luck.” I know that many think fate and karma are the same, because they both have to do with our choices. While they are closely related, fate deals with the results of directions we’ve chosen, talents we’ve chosen to develop, and ideas and ideals we’ve chosen to nurture. Karma keeps the whole of our life (or lives, depending on your beliefs) in balance, an equilibrium.

Now, the “luck” that I was referring to: even with the above understanding of destiny, fate, and karma, many things happen that we don’t understand the cause (or mechanics) of. A lack in the depth of my understand doesn’t necessarily signal “supernatural fortune or forces (Lady Luck) at work”… So, to verbalize my lack of understanding about what caused certain things to happen (the mechanics of it), I refer to that lack of understanding as “luck,” “good luck” if the event was fortuitous and “bad luck” if the event worked against my interests (but nothing supernatural, just something for which we have not yet penetrated the mechanics).

So, any time I mention "luck," it just means, "I don't know why..."...;-)

Art is the proper task of life.
--Friedrich Nietzsche

spring... at long last...

The sun has been out and the temps in the 50’s for the last couple of days, and I’m feeling a little spring fever... don’t want to do much but stare out the window, walk around outside, nap in my car with the window open... listening to my Zen.

My “would-be” astrologer keeps sending me emails, telling me I’m in for significant opportunities in the next six months.. wanting me to consulter her for details and “guidance”... I’ve got to give her credit for persistence, if nothing else. She had alluded previously to many significant opportunities for me in the last 3 months... alas, nothing presented itself... oops my bad, I didn’t consult her and that’s surely why they didn’t appear... but if I get with her now, every thing will be copasetic, and all my dreams will come true... what to do?...;-)~

I don’t mean to sound jaded (because I don’t believe that I really am), but I don’t know what dreams I really want to pursue (I have so many varying and different, even antagonistic ones). I guess I’m fairly content to see where my fate, destiny, and karma take me... I’m sure it will be interesting, and probably somewhere I never expected to be... at least that’s been the case so far.

Demon Sensei after charging up on double esspressos and esspresso brownies >>>

On a different note, all my Aikido rank test candidates passed their tests. I’ll be handing out belts and certs tonight. They are all doing very well... I expect to see a dojo full of black belts some time in the not too distant future, a couple of years perhaps.

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: 'Lucky bastards.
--George Carlin

New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a 'decaf grandee, half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low, and One NutraSweet,' ooooh, you're a huge asshole.
--George Carlin