Why do we call some people lucky whilst others not so lucky? Why some people lead happy, successful lives whilst some face frequent failure and sadness? Why do some find their perfect life partner and lead a happy married life, whilst others stagger from broken relationships? What qualifies some people to have successful careers whilst others find themselves in dragging careers? We all depend on our luck factor often in our life.

So what does luck really mean? Many studies have found that what a person might perceive as “luck” has more to do with psychology than possibility. Luck is actually positive attitude that keeps one open to new opportunities and chances in life. When the ball hits a post in soccer, the commentators often say the striker was unlucky. In cricket a batsman hits six runs if the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary in the air, and then touches the boundary or the ground beyond it and the batsman is called lucky.

Is luck factor sensible? Do some people have more of it than others? I think there is a perfectly reasonable way of making sense while talking about luck. Famous Hindi film music composer O.P. Nayyar was a great believer in the “Time” factor; he used to say, “Adami ka waqt chalata hai, adami nahi chalata”. In later years, he always claimed that it was his time (1954 to 1958), and his zenith came in 1957 to 1967 when he composed music of films, the movies usually became hit.  The financers of the film, used to invest the money as soon as the producer told them that OP was the music director of the film. They would buy the distributing rights in a jiffy, without giving a second thought about other factors like star cast, film director etc. But, Nayyar’s last days were distressed, his waqt chalata hai philosophy did show that luck always doesn’t favour.  

In one of the freak incident of luck, four beggars won big after a scratch card was handed to them by a charitable gambler drew 50,000 euros ($59,000), French lottery operator FDJ. The four men in their thirties were begging outside a lottery shop in the western port city of Brest when a departing customer handed them a scratch card purchased for one euro. What a surprise for the four young men when they discovered a win not of five euros, but of 50,000 euros!! Though the incident is freaky, the four beggars turned lucky.

Luck seems obvious to me when we read/hear narration from a passenger who was to travel on a particular flight and misses it due to getting late to airport and that particular flight crashes killing passengers and crew on board….. Here’s how I understand luck. I think something is lucky for a person if two things are true of it; if that matters to him, and it might easily not have happened. To say that something might easily not have happened is to say that things were very bad at the time just before, the event might well not have occurred, but, the result turns out to be positive.

Lucky people are not born with the property of having lucky events happen to them. Whether I am lucky in doing something depends on how skilful I am at doing things like that. If I master the craft, I am always lucky. So, roughly, the more often something happens to someone, the less luck is involved.

Well this incident does prove that luck favour some people more easily. Barnett Helzberg Jr. by 1994 built up a chain of highly successful jewelry stores with annual revenue of around $300 million. One day he was walking past the Plaza Hotel in New York when he heard a woman call out, “Mr. Buffett” to the man next to him. Buffet is the globally famous as an investor. Helzberg had never met Buffett, but had read about the financial criteria that Buffett used when buying a company. Helzberg had recently turned sixty, was thinking of selling his company, and realized that his might be the type of company that would interest Buffett. Helzberg grabbed the opportunity, walked over to the stranger and introduced himself. The man did indeed turn out to be Warren Buffett, and the chance meeting proved highly fortuitous because about a year later Buffett agreed to buy Helzberg’s chain of stores. And all because Helzberg just happened to be walking by as a woman called out Buffett’s name on a street corner in New York. Helzberg’s story illustrates the effect of luck.

Good luck plays a vital role in our lives. Stanford psychologist Alfred Bandura has discussed the impact of how chance encounters and luck on people’s personal lives. Bandura noted that occurrence of a chance determines the life paths; which often arise through the most trivial circumstances. He supports his case with several telling examples; one such example is in 1949 Nancy Davis’s name was on an industry blacklist of Communist sympathizers. Suspecting a mix-up with another Nancy Davis, her maiden name, she sought the help of the president of the Screen Actors Guild, Ronald Reagan, for help. The list actually referred to another actress of the same name, but it was preventing Davis from finding work. Her meeting with Ronald Regan turned into love marriage within a year. In 1980 Regan went on to become President of America and Nancy the first lady! Luck is another name of miracle.

It seems Donald Trump throws little salt over his shoulder after he eats…. if you look closely at Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, you will see that Judas has knocked the salt cellar over with his elbow. Thanks to Judas Iscariot, spilled salt is associated with betrayal and lies. If you do spill salt, a pinch thrown over your left shoulder is supposed to blind the devil waiting there.

The world’s largest car manufacturer, Toyota, changed its name from “Toyoda” in the 1930s because the number of brush strokes was more auspicious in Japanese culture. Toyota Motor Corporation was founded by the Toyoda family. The word “Toyoda” uses ten Japanese strokes to write while “Toyota” uses only eight. Eight is considered a lucky number in Japanese culture. For this reason “Toyota” was chosen as the company’s name. And it has become a world-famous car brand.

From beginning humans have been superstitious. For the sake of getting lucky, for the sake of earning more money, we readily accept to do those small things such as wearing a ring, adding the extra letter in our name, hanging those wind chimers or crystals in our homes, offices just to bring the luck into our life…… Many people have lucky objects that mean a lot to them personally, but throughout different cultures and times there have always been objects almost universally believed to bring good luck. And really, there is no scientific answer why it works for some and does not work for others. It doesn’t matter if they actually work. I suppose it is like the placebo effect. And what is placebo effect? If you believe something works then it will! It’s a psychological phenomenon, in which the recipient perceives an improvement in condition due to personal expectations, rather than the treatment itself, which is also known as the placebo response.

The list of items of good luck charm – talisman, Feng Shui luck charms, Gold Fish, Money Trees, Laughing Bhddha, Crystals, Gem Stones, Coins, Buttons, Qaurtz stones, Red Envelopes…………..the list is big! Charms can be used to enhance the best directions for improving your wealth conditions, health conditions, prosperity in career, promotions, work, sleep, marriage, family, health and so on. Why these specific objects? This question has no answer. Almost any object can be used as a lucky charm. Little things somebody gives us sometimes bring great luck, and then we make those items our lucky charms. It is because of the favourable associations they make. Many souvenir shops have a range of tiny items that may be used as good luck charms. Good luck charms are usually worn on the body although there are exceptions.

You might be surprised to learn that about quarter of Americans are superstitious. Superstition is associated with gullibility. If we think about rationality of the concept of luck, it seems funny. But, a lot of people throughout history have made significant decisions based on superstitious beliefs of luck. It’s difficult to understand why large numbers of people choose to believe in an imperceptible, un-measurable power over their own rationality. Also, the belief in luck has little base in reality. But, then so many successful people are believers in the element called luck.

Is prosperity merit-based? Not at all, we see so many deserving people fail in their genuine efforts, while some undeserving people succeed. The truth is that, everything happens by cause and effect; it is all so difficult and complex to reliably predict success and failure.  Yet we should not stop trying putting in our efforts. If we really could understand what will work and what will not, I suppose life would be very boring. There is no real tangible or intangible thing called luck.

Finally, if those lucky objects help us feel secured, why not try those lucky charms! In a 2010 research on lucky charms, the researchers found that people perform better on tasks when they have a lucky charm with them. So if you’re lucky charm is boosting your confidence, have it. Positive and negative events happen all the time in human lives, both due to random and non-random natural and mock processes and even improbable event happen by random chance.