Off Topic - Bad Luck

[yooperdave]

How does one distance themself from a continual episode of bad luck? I used to get hit in three's. Now it seems to know no end. This Spring has started poorly and has rapidly deterioated. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Is there a wise person with some words of wisdom to pick up one's spirits?

Yooper Dave

 

[thcri]

YopperDave,

My wife use to think that Murphy's law didn't exist. That was before she married me. Now she does.

How to get around it. Just start thinking positive, when bad luck hits just take the best of it, make the best of it and go on with life. The more positive I think the more good things happen. Yeah that might be easy for me to say, but daily prayer and time with the Lord has made a tremendous difference for me.

Hope things change for ya.


murph

 

[Anonymous Poster]

yooperdave: "Is there a wise person with some words of wisdom to pick up one's spirits?" I doubt it. And, you're a structural engineer? "Luck" is neither an attribute nor an entity. Everything happens because of preexisting conditions, everything, all the time, without exception. The fact that you (or I) do not know all those conditions, their relationships, nature or influence on subsequent events does not prove "luck", just our own ignorance (lack of knowledge). If things aren't going as we like (bad luck - sorry, couldn't resist!) its because we lack knowledge, or, we subconsciously knew, but wanted things to go bad for ourselves. So . . . my advice? Study more - become more involved with reality, or, blank the brain through drugs, prayer (comuning with the subconscious), or other form of escape. Remember the "big picture". 50 years from now I'll be dead (actually much less than that). Someday, with all due respect, I suspect you will be too. And then its over. In the mean time, if I may paraphrase Mr. Freud, maximize your yield of pleasure while minimizing the cost in pain. Do something today that will give you pleasure. You can't change the past. Do something today that will give you pleasure. Imagine (pretend to yourself) that everything you have is gone. You are at zero. You are standing their with nothing-no debts, no bad relationships, no traps you are in. What would you like to do today? Then do it. JEH

 

[Egon]

Dave:

Did the sun come up this morning? If'n it did all is well. Youre still here and the expectations of another day is ahead of you. What's bad may be good for for some.

Spring time may get you down. The nurotransmiters may not be funtioning properly. It's one of the worst seasons for that. Think in medical terms. So what you think is bad luck now may just be taken in normal stride at other times .

Egon

 

[19th_VA]

I would suggest reading Ecclesiastes, chapter 3
in the Old Testament. It's not an easy pick me up but it's a faithful person's (the Word of God) genuine and intelligent response to life's ups and downs. In case you don't have access, here it is:

1: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3: a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5: a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6: a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7: a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8: a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
9: What gain has the worker from his toil?
10: I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
11: He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
12: I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;
13: also that it is God's gift to man that every one should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.
14: I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him.
15: That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.
16: Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
17: I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.
18: I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts.
19: For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity.
20: All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21: Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?
22: So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Ooops, I just realized it says no religion in this forum. Hope this is o.k., Muhammad

 

[BubbaJr]

What's the use in worrying?
You're either going to live or die.
If you live, you don't have anything to worry about.
If you die you're either going to go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven, you don't have anything to worry about.
If you go to hell, you'll be so busy shaking hands with all your friends, you won't have time to worry !!!


Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool.

 

[PhilNH5]

Yooper Dave,
I don't know how bad you predicament is and I hope things change for you soon.
Having said that - I think attitude helps. And I think one can control their attitude/outlook.
Now before ya' go thinking this is some new age touchy feely stuff let it be known this is my pet theory and it is at least 20 yrs old.

I notice people actually plan on being happy. They say things like "I'll be really happy when I get that raise." Or "I'll be happy when I buy a house" Or "I'll be happy when I get my new Kubota!" Statements like those are in esscence planning on being happy if a certain event occurrs.

Well why not plan on being happy TODAY ??? If, as above, we accept the premise that one can plan their happiness - then plan on being happy today. Works for me!! Probably drives most of my co-workers nuts though.

Phil (who really abhors touchy feely new age jargon and theories)

 

[jasonf]

Dave:

This is something I found years ago and thought you might find it helpful....


Desiderata
(something desired as essential)
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember
what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline be gentle to yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars and you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
--Max Ehrmann, 1927. © Robert L. Bell

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Wow Dave I'm sorry you feel your world is going to where ever in a handbasket.

I don't have the secret to happiness nor do I have a clue about the whatever of luck.

I do have a saying about luck though. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

"I'd rather be lucky than good. Anyone can be good, that only takes effort."

I am lucky and most folks who know me assume I'm happy by my demeanor. I suspect they're right.

I think part of the good luck thing is the way one looks at what some folks call bad luck. An example would be having a flat tire. When it happens to me I find myself being thankfull it didn't happen under different circumstances. You know, when a flat would be a really terrible thing to happen. It might sound crazy but that perspective usually finds bad luck to actually be good in it's own way.

Probably the best thing about life is it's constantly changing. In life nothing is constant but it's inconsistancy. That is wonderful. Knowing that things will change means we should treasure the good moments and embrace them because they aren't there very long. And just as importantly we know that bad times won't last either. So all we have to do is hang on while they run their course.

So relish the good moments for the same reason you endure the bad ones. They are just that, moments.

Besides the obvious like family and friends what I consider the best bit of luck for me is having tunnel vision. That allows me to fall into the abyss of detail. Now there is a place where one can find happiness if happiness is appreciating the moment.

An example would be digging a post hole. There are many opportunities for finding the kinds of details to really appreciate.

There's the obvious like the feeling of muscles complaining about the effort. When they complain they usually do it the way a man will complain about his wife being too pretty or his kid too smart. A lot of time it comes across more as bragging than anything else. Muscles communicate like that. If you don't believe me just flex one and watch it show off.

Sometimes when you're doing a hole you will find a rock in just the perfect wrong place, maybe a tree root, etc. The first reaction of course is to cuss the luck that put such an obstacle in the way. Then you start working at it and you see progress and you're rewarded with the feeling of winning. Now that's good luck, winning is always about luck.

When the hole is done there is the moment to appreciate it for being a hole done right and special in it's own way. It might be just one of fifty or so. But it was an individual hole with it's own challenges and victories.

If each hole is microcasm of life, challenge, endurance, success, then each hole is a bit of happiness. Add these up along with all the other events of the day taken with the same attitude and when you hit the door the wife will see a look in your eye, well, it'll either thrill her and scare her off, either way you're lucky. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Of course I don't just dig post holes. But lucky me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've found that everything else has the same kind of opportunity for happiness. It don't matter if it's washing the truck or welding up a project. It can be broken down into steps that are into themselves opportunities for finding happiness--good luck.

 

[Bird]

That is a great attitude, Harv! Well said.