Do you suffer from bad luck?

James says on October 1st, 2007 at 9:48 am

Good article. I’ve written before, about making your own luck on my site, which I think is a good addition to the points made here.

lisia says on October 1st, 2007 at 10:29 am

I never believed things happened by luck. However, things that did happen to me I found myself blaming the other people for my failures. Not looking for a positive reaction. This article confirms I have shown growth in myself by changing my thoughts does help.

Eric says on October 1st, 2007 at 11:17 am

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” — Louis Pasteur

While many things are out of our control the possibility of turning a random event into a positive opportunity has to do with preparation.

Michael Blank says on October 1st, 2007 at 11:33 am

I have to disagree completely with the sentiment of this post. There are people who DO have worse luck than others and it is not something that they can control. Ask the people in New Orleans what bad luck is. Ask families in the Sudan what bad luck is.

Just because you recognize luck changes things for some people does not mean that you have no control. One of the basic elements of GTD is that you control nothing but your own actions. If you accept the responsability and the consequences for those actions, then you have as much control as any person can have.

KT says on October 1st, 2007 at 1:44 pm

@Michael Blank:

There is a difference between bad luck and choosing to live in a known hazard area (New Orleans)…and yes, I know some were too poor to move out of there. I’m not unsympathetic to their situation, but it is not bad luck to be hit by a hurricane in a hurricane-prone area that lies below sea level, it is inevitable.

Being born in an impoverished and/or conflict-ridden area (there are many all over the world) isn’t bad luck either, it is causal: sperm met egg. It is possible to get out of such a situation by changing one’s way of doing things. It isn’t easy and it isn’t “fair,” but staying in a bad area is, at a root level, a choice, not luck.

Hard work, good decisions made consistently, abstinence from terrible decisions, and the willingness to sacrifice in the short term to attain a longer term goal overcomes almost anything.

Bad luck is being struck by lightning from a clear blue sky…this has actually happened and I can’t imagine any way to classify it differently because it originates entirely outside of one’s sphere of influence…it would require foreknowledge of an exceptionally unlikely future to avoid.

Now will someone kindly analyze why jerks seem to get all the *good* luck? ;o)

Alexander Kjerulf says on October 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 am

The most fascinating work I’ve seen on luck is by the English professor Richard Wiseman (not a bad name for a scientist, btw) who has studied people who feel exceptionally lucky or unlucky.

He has found that lucky people and unlucky people have the same opportunities, but lucky people are more likely to exploit them because they:
1: Maximise Chance Opportunities

2: Listen to Lucky Hunches

3: Expect Good Fortune

4: Turn Bad Luck to Good

So his point is pretty much that you make your own luck by being open to the opportunities your circumstances hold.

More here:
http://www.luckfactor.co.uk/re.....actor.html

jazzie says on October 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pm

i disagree. you can have bad luck. things can repeatedly not work for you. things do not get better.

your article is shallow.

John Maberry says on October 12th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

There is no such thing as luck; it is a delusion we ascribe blame or credit to for the effects of the causes we make. It is no different that blaming the devil, the boss, the spouse, etc. When we take responsibility for our own lives, we make our own “luck.” The cause of being born poor or suffering a hurricane is not so easily seen; it may come from the karma of a previous lifetime. See “Credit or Blame” 9/29 post on http://www.views.eaglepeakpress.com

be says on October 17th, 2007 at 1:42 am

it’s kind of how a scientist can say rain comes from clouds. they might be correct but they might not understand exactly what made the cloud. i consider myself to be a very intelligent person. a very positive person as well. i’ve been making lemonade out of lemons for a very long time.

my life sucks. my luck sucks. it’s always sucked. i was born an unwanted child. my father treated me like i owed him everything because i would have been aborted. i didn’t recieve gift or celebrate my birthday or Christmas like my brother and sister. i didn’t get to go to college. i’ve been disabled. i have bad luck stories that do not break.
it’s actually very peculiar. it’s ridiculous. i know spirits exist that help shape the world around us. i do not believe our existance is purely based on personal ’spirit’ as some people believe.

I am an honest and compassionate person. more so than anyone i’ve every met or come to know. this is why i have bad luck.

there’s very little explaination you can tell me for why i have had continous retarded luck since i could remember. no. i’m not a defeatist. i’m more possitive then anyone i’ve ever met. if you live 2 months in my shows.. then you might realize how much fortitude i have had.

i’ve seen plenty of ‘possitive’ people break under the slightest bad instance.

screw u. =)

be says on October 17th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

ok. for the skeptics, i’ll go into a a little scenario. i had been pinching my pennies for some time, as i needed to buy a car an have enough money to pay my insurance and make any possible repairs. i wanted to make sure i had a deent safety net. the 1st car i buoght i lost before i could even drive it. (i didn’t have a license. i was working three jobs just paying my rent but i managed to save up enough money for a vehicle. i wound up being injured which caused me to lose my job, and i had a pile of medical bills and i lost my apartment and even though for the last 3-5 years, the landlady allowed two people to keep their cars there, in the short two month s when i was going through this trouble, she towed and impounded my car, and the other 2.) that wasn’t my story. my story goes.. i had been saving all my money.. having no frivolous expenses. for about 6 months i spent money on only food and rent. i saved up about 4,000 dollars. i should have afforded a decent 1st car but i was being very careful. well i hadn’t gone out in 6 months. (my life is so full of trouble, i figured protection was a necessity. i was right, thought i had several other troublesome issues with my health and what not, i didn’t have any major negative events occur to me, except for my health. A compressed disc in my neck had become aggravated and to this day.. is cause for continuous pain and fatigue. but anyway. i needed to have a bit social activity. i had already determine that my old friends were just spiritually against me. though i have been the best of friend to all who know me, these people we unknowingly active in undermining my prosperity and joy. i am correct. i did happen to find an old friend on-line when i was in search of finding a drummer to work on some music i had been writing. since i recognized the person, we had arranged to meet up. i was pushing for coffee at his place. but he insisted on meeting at a bar where he said his band would be playing.
i have not been to a bar in years since there is the possibility of trouble. reluctantly i agree to meeting him there. i arrived a little early, i didn’t see my friend. a really nice looking girl introduced herself, but i didn’t manifest my luck there. i wanted to avoid trouble so i brushed her off. a couple other girls introduced themselves too, as i was sitting alone. i brushed them off too as if i was not interested but the far bar tender did notice, and he was getting jealous. any way.. my friend showed up.. talked to me for about 3 minutes then went back to work… ahh, he didn’t explain he worked there. so i’m pretty much there for some time, and i already blew my shots with the girlies in there. well i didn’t blow it, i just didn’t get to capitalize on the opportunity. (the op had a point)

well anyway, there was a dude there and we got to talking. ( i had decided to wait it out till my old acquaintance could give me some information. i didn’t want to go home, as i lived in a bad neighborhood and i was unsure of the bus schedule. i was hoping my friend could give me a ride, or let me crash at his place. i admit it was a little unplanned and off the cuff, but at worst i could opt to staying up all night and getting a bus in the morning. i do with little, so this was nothing too stringent.)

well, the guy i was with was drunk off his ass and he decides to go home and he falls down as he’s putting on his jacket. he bought me my last 3 beers as i was not looking to spend money or get drunk. 3 beers in about one and a half hours is not a problem. so this guy is leaving and he’s going to drive home very drunk. i follow him out so as to stop him. i don’t leave my beer on the counter as it is full, and i don’t want my bad luck to manifest itself in someone putting something in my drink. besides, it seemed to me to promote a related atmosphere and i had to convince this guy not to drive without seeming threatening. well i got him to stop for a little bit. then a cop is driving by and this drunk idiot felt it important to point at him as he was driving by. this because i had a beer outside the bar. i know how to hide a beer, but this drunk guy was very projective when he was pointing to the cop and exclaim.. ‘duuuude, there’s a cop.. then pointing the beer i had in my jacket, then back to the cop and looking scared. whatever. the cop stopped. he still didn’t see the beer but he saw something was up. this drunk guy has his big jangle of keys in his hand and this cop get’s out of his car and walks over to us. as he’s doing this.. i take a purposeful swig from the beer in my hand. i figure.. i get a ticket where as this person whom i was detaining would get serious charges if arrested for driving. ok, the officer is pays no attention to the guy with his keys still in his hands and obviously drunk. i’m told to put my beer inside.
i do. the fat bar tender is furious. and he’s yelling at me and pushing me around. i asked him to refrain from pushing me, and go outside. (i have torn a/c tendon in my knee and other torn things. it’s very wobbly. very easy to injury my self if someone is violently pushing me.)

ok, the cop is giving me a ticket blah blah blah. i then ask if i can tell the person i came to see what had happened. (remember, i was looking to ask him if i can stay at his place. or get a ride. there was no bus at this hour.) the fat bar tender tells me to beat it. and again puts his hands on me pushing me. i think it’s outrageous. how does someone put their hands on another person and assume it is ok? i step back, and tell the guy to get his f@#$’n hands off me. i stepped away from him. the cop turns to me, tells me to put my hands on his car and arrests me. i say, ‘what the hell?’ so the cop put the handcuffs on so tight, it cut off my circulation in my hand and was extremely extremely painful. the hand cuffs were so tight, they were unable to take em off, and they were going to cut them off. i was in such pain for about 40 minutes, with these on and said, ‘try harder to get them off’. it took 4 large men to squeeze down on the handcuffs and turn the key to get them off. my hand was blue and i had a brown scar around my wrist for a year and a half. after seven or eight canceled court dates, (all of which each time, i would have to catch a bus to an outside suburb, and sleep in the woods. there were no return buses at that hour. i spent a couple nights in the rain, and one in the snow.) i did not have a lawyer, since i did not understand how corrupt the united states court system is. i understood that i was completely innocent and that there should be no way to be convicted of a crime i didn’t do. i was wrong. both the cop and the bar tender lied. no only this,, both there stories contradicted each other. one guy said i was on the stairs fighting with this guy, the other said i was in the doorway, trying to squeeze pass him. the truth was i was on the side walk. i had explain how my knee which pivots and wobbles out of joint something which would make any confrontation on stair to be a ridiculous thing. any confrontation at all is dangerous. i have to walk with care. i explained how i was a victim, and the judge agreed with me. he said i certainly was, but the prosecutor asked me, if i made contact with the victim. i said no. then he sharply reiterates, ‘AT NO TIME DID YOU HAVE CONTACT WITH THE VICTIM!?

i said, ‘well i guess when HE made contact with me, we had contact.’

he said no further questions. seeming quite relaxed and confident. this evil bastard.
the judge then announced ‘guilty on all charges’.

then i said ‘omg, i didn’t do anything.’

then he charged me contempt of court 850$ fine.
then i said, ‘omg’ then he smacked his gavel again. 350$ fine.

In total i had 3850.00 in fines and 1 month jail time.

it gets worse, but you get the point.

this scenario is perpetual. like, i finally got a car, and i parked it between a handicap zone and a corner. the corner is painted yellow with a sign, no parking from here to corner. the handicap zone is painted blue.
inbetween there is room for 1 small car.

they towed me. 250 ticket, 230$ tow.

i paid the tow. then i get my windows, (both of them) smashed. and someone stole my radio and cd’s and tried to hotwire my car. my clogged fuel filter prevented them from succeeding, but anyway. i need to go to work. i don’t fix the windows. i get towed again. 250$ ticket, parking on sidewalk. i didn’t park on the sidewalk. 230$ tow. this is in 1 week.

what is involved is demons. the judge, the cop, the prosecutor, the bar tender. these people were all inspired by a demonic spirits. i didn’t do anything to anyone. but they felt it most important to destroy me. every employer i have had has cheated me on wages. all my co-workers have been dishonest and evil. i only intend to do my job. i do everything well.

when i was 12, i had an iq test and i had 167/200. even this was robbed from me. the lady whom administered the test knew me from adam, but she became irritated and angry with me. she scolded me for about an hour 1/2. i was a very insecure child, pretty much abused by my sister, brother, mother and father, and living in a rags in a rich suburb. after she had made me extremely uneasy, she administered a 2nd test. much of the timed test was spent arguing. it was ridiculous. she with all intent had caused me to score much lower on my 2nd test. 120. which is considered the high end of average. she was supposed to take the average of both tests which she explained to me but said she would not do it. she was also supposed to administer a third test because the difference was so high. she didn’t. 167 iq would have given me a special education. i would have probably been offered free college at the age of 12.

blah blah blha

robertd says on October 27th, 2007 at 3:35 am

“Stop believing that what happens in your life is down to the vagaries of luck, destiny, supernatural forces, malevolent other people, or anything else outside your self.”

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO WHO EVER WROTE THIS ID.OTIC ARTICLE, ALL YOU KNOW IN YOUR LIFE IS WHAT OTHER ID.OTS THOUGT YOU YEARS BEFORE, AND THEM, AND SO ON. IF YOU HAD SOME INTELIGENCE IN YOU, AND KNEW WHAT 50-50 IS, your opinion would be different “it is something to do with mathematics which looks like you have no idea about, but you still managed to get a degree” All intelligent people that have a problem similar to mine of seeing the probability something going wrong, THAT IS TOTALLY OUT OF YOUR CONTOROL FROM 50-50 TO 10-100 “for your information this means 10 out of 100 possibilities or 1-10 percentage wise, this means exactly the same thing”
THANK EVIL IT’S NOT 1 OUT OF 100, I AM STILL ALIFE AFTER GOING DOWN TO 1 OUT OF 10, believe me if there was 10 bridges to chose from and only one will collapse, hello there goes Robert down for a swim.
And yes, I have a proof, after years of bul-sh.. it happens to a point I break down. But that is another story. Lets see if this gets posted first. It seems like everybody that read this idi.tic article was pretty polite to the author, here is what I have to say, f u ..

robertd says on October 29th, 2007 at 2:44 am

sorry i met taught not thought, damn i was mad after i read that nonsense, which aplies to simple people with IQ of 110 or less. We people with IQ above 140 are different and unique and that is why something evil fu..s with us to push us to the edge.
I do not believe in god, but definitely there is something greater than us, good and evil, you could call it a god and devil if you want. God has no need for suiciders’ soul ‘ if one exists ‘ on the other hand the devil can’t get enough.
THINK ABOUT THAT!
30 seconds before posting power went out, yes my computer blacked out, so you are reading the second version now, I don’t get upset anymore I am safe, good luck I hope you’re safe too.

Rashine says on December 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 am

I have a sweater that is really nice, but every time i seem to wear it. Something bad happeneds. I stopped wearing for over a year, and now I want to see if anything would happen if I wear it again. Is this just happening like that or is it really bad luck?

ildiko romvari says on December 7th, 2007 at 3:35 pm

“”Are they luckier than the others? Of course not. Luck is random—that’s what chance means—so they are just as likely to suffer setbacks as anyone else.”"

PLEASE ,PLEASE TAKE THIS BACK, GIVE US DIGNITY….
You really don’t know what are you saying!
You just don’t have enough information. You must get out there and see ,what I mean. Thanks for letting me to say this…

Nikolas says on December 20th, 2007 at 6:24 pm

life sucks for some of us,and we just cant do nothing….
suffering for some is a rutine and the solution is death……

Bhaskar says on February 4th, 2008 at 11:06 am

My life has been pretty depressing too. But somehow I still want to live, inspite of the seemingly never-ending bad luck.
As I continued to try to make things work, life has improved. After years of doing nothing and living with parents, I am finally doing something good for myself without worying about luck. If things go bad – I say to myself “that way expected” and try to move on.
And I am getting encouraging results…nothing like earning your money and being free after years of living at the mercy of others.

@be
You are a brave person.

mimi says on February 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

So has mine..I recenlty graduated and I had an accident right after my graduation but well I did survive. I did get hired by some crappy company but got fired the very first week because everyone was white and racist of course as they kept pointing out my race.
Then I went ahead and worked at some crappy place to pay off my car and bills but people labelled me as an illegal and swore at me. And here I’m 4 months after graduation working at the crappy place hearing people call me names and an illegal. And believe it or not I’m not an illegal but just a different race.

rash says on March 17th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

my life sucks. my luck sucks. it’s always sucked.please help me

jorge says on May 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am

thats a lie.. if i make my own luck then i asked to fall down the stairs and break my ankle and i asked to get a rash from my pillow that has now scarred me for the rest of my life because i used the wrong cream on it and i also asked for my brothers law firm to crash so now his whole family is living with me and i have to support them financially and this is just in the past month..

joe says on June 30th, 2008 at 9:46 am

Some people are lucky and some people are unlucky. I have had 15 years of bad luck and it keeps going . Being nice to my family destroyed me. I took care of my mother for 15 years . My family did not help at all. I was working days come home at noon to cook for my mom give her her meds and go back to work .
come home after work prepare food and meds again. give her a bath . Also i was taking days off to take her to doctors and hospital.
For fifteen years i burned the candle on both side. I loved my mother please dont take me wrong. But i felt alone we are 5 kids i was the only one there to help. The rest of them wanted to put her in the nursing home and she never wanted that. So last chrismas mom at 96 ended up in the hospital and they sent her home and i arranged hospice in my house and took a couple months off to stay with her and keep her comfortable to the last minute .
On feb 1st at 8.20 am Mom passed away peacefuly . It was a big loss for me i am still not recovered and feel so alone without her in my life. So i wasted 15 years of my life doing nothing but working hard days and nights so mom is happy and healthy.
I am 58 years old now i look back and say what did i do with my life? nothing. I gave my mom 15 years of my life . Now i am alone and in debts i am going to lose my house .
My health is deteriorating nothing is coming my way. All my friends left me no one wants any thing to do with me because i am poor and dont have anymore money. I live from check to check and allways behind on my bills. I prayed for help from my mom . But who knows where she is now. I am so alone and in debts up to my neck. All that because i took money on my house in order to pay moms medical bills and give her what ever she wished from food and comfort. My 3 sisters and on brother
showed up at the funeral putting on an act like you never beleive. When i asked them to help pay for the funeral they all desapeared.
So now i have another $14,000.00 to pay.
All this because i was good to my mother.
All this because i was a good son.
Here i denied God himself or helself.
I brought it to myself ? yes. Because i couldnt see my mom in the nursing home. They could have killed her in one year and made her suffer. Oh well. talking about luck?
what luck? I beleive Most of the jerks are lucky the people who do not care but for themselves the ones who are selfish and more.
I am not that type of a person. Sorry i cant help it . Now i deciede to just go on with my life. AND I PRAY THAT I GO IN MY SLEEP. I JUST WANT TO GO I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS LIFE
WORKING MY A….S OFF JUST TO GET BY IN LIFE IS NOT A LIFE. I SEE PEOPLE WHO NEVER WORK LIVING BETTER THAN I. LIKE DRUG DEALERS AND MANY OTHER BAD PEOPLE LIVING ON WELFARE. THEY ARE LIVING BETTER THAN US.
BAD LUCK? LUCK? F IT ALL.
I AM TIRED AND I WANT TO GO.

jizzy310 says on July 6th, 2008 at 7:07 pm

With all due respect..you are full of shit. Luck is NOT random, forces are at work, and it’s not all in the victims head.

rika says on July 26th, 2008 at 9:52 am

i think luck has more to do with vibes that you give out..which again is like saying that you should have a positive attitude..
ive always followed one mantra..
“you are what you believe you are”
if u believe u r lucky u will be…
and for all those people who are having bad luck..let me tell you i have been having major bad luck since the past week…

first i lost my cell phone(which was a good thing coz i8 got a better one!..and i got to kno how supportive my parents can be..)

next my computer crashed and i had all my study material in it..(which is cool with me coz i got to bunk a test :D)

and i lost 1000 bucks(RS)..(which was depressing alright but i learnt something important..NEVER keep money in your jean’s pocket…and ya…that left me with little money to go out..so i had ended up studying and excelling my next test..:D)
this just proves one thing..

good luck comes disguised

its funny how all of us can see bad luck but cant see how many times we have been lucky during the day when a car just brushed passed us missing by millimetres..or how crow shit missed us and fell on another dude..or how we didnt trip down the stairs even though the stairs were slippery..

rika says on July 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am

oh and @be …i dont quite get the point of your really long story…
i think if ull read it once more ull see how it is your fault that all that happenned to u…
the beer…and the stupid comment ‘well i guess when HE made contact with me, we had contact.’
well u should have known the guy was trying to trick you…hes a lawyer..thats his job..!
and the working and saving up for a car etc…i think maybe losing your car and the want of a new one was the only thing that kept u working so hard…and about ur sad social life..u seem to have chosen it for urself…u seem to have wanted to work for a car instead of enjoyin with ur frnds…and the fine…dude u parked in the wrong place..
now i dont kno u…but this is how it sounds to me…
although i do agree that u are a very brave person..and a nice one too..i hope u composed ur songs finally…and maybe that one month in jail was to give u enuf time to introspect..so u can write better songs…which cud make u famous one day…who knows…

Paul says on August 4th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

“Your luck, in the end, is pretty much what you choose it to be.” – this is the key point of the article. You can say that it is out of your control – and mumble and suffer and complain all the rest of your life. But isn’t is b.llsh.t?
Look at it from another point of view, at least the author suggest his one, which is much more positive that just crying “oh, I’m such a looser”…
I can suggest one more – which is not only positive, but a practical one – a way to maximize your level of luck, see – LuckGenerator.Org
Stop complaining and start doing something…
And, well, good luck :-)

Michael O'Connor says on August 20th, 2008 at 12:00 am

Adrian is an idiot!

Anyone who has had bad luck for years knows this. We are all in some sort of dynamic computer program and anything in it can be used to vex you. F1 is good luck and F12 is bad luck and someone is standing on my F12 key.

Wake Up!!!

Emira says on September 11th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

i’ve been through hell lot of bad problems between my family, friends, n my life…
every time i try to do something right always comes bad, and thought that it caused by a curse or bad luck or something…
but since i found your article, i have understand what is actually wrong in my mind….
thnks…
i guess i will change my self into a better,positive person.

David says on September 24th, 2008 at 2:32 am

I’m going out on a limb here. If there’s no such thing as luck, then how do you explain the PhD who is homeless? Or perhaps the scumbag who lives all fine and well with seemingly no problems?

Personally, I have had 42 years of really bad experiences. I have failed at everything I have ever tried to accomplish. To list my failures would take, well, 42 years.

I’m ready for all of this to be over. I was raised not to hate, but honestly, I hate this world, and I hate my life. And because I’m ready for my life to come to a close, I’ll live to be more than 100 years old. If I loved life, I’d be dead tomorrow.

No. I’m not going to do anything to myself. Just because I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired doesn’t mean that I don’t have some sense of honor. But I have had enough.

Think that’s pathetic? Well guess what? Hoplessness has that effect on people. Everybody can be broken. Everybody has a point that they can’t go beyond. Even me.

Thank you for letting me vent.

Skyler says on October 11th, 2008 at 8:17 pm

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Preparation and Opportunity can both be improved, and so can luck. The Luck-Struck Method offers 10 easy steps for having better luck every day. How do you know if you are Luck-Struck? You find free stuff, even money, on the sidewalk; you meet amazing people with job offers and relationship possibilities; you discover great investments; and things start happening around you in ways that seem too good to be true! Ready to improve your luck? Go to http://www.luck-struck.com/

bhaskar says on October 15th, 2008 at 10:30 pm

I tell you people, its the Aliens doing things. Hope 2012 comes soon!

vivek agrawal says on October 20th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

I truly DISAGREE with above article.
Some people are really unlucky while others are lucky.
Consider this you are captain of your cricket team and you go to toss. The probability of you loosing one toss is 1/2 and probability of you loosing 5 continuous tosses is 1/32 or 3% .If you happens to be in that 3% then you are unlucky otherwise not.Those who are in rest 97% will always say that luck means nothing.
Luck is definitely there and you cannot control everything, if you say that ‘Luck’ means nothing then probably you do not know what bad luck is and how it feels ‘being unlucky’.
Ask those people who are physically challenged by birth , can they change there lives NO!!! it is something that fucking god has imposed on them and they have to live with it.
Let me tell you that those who says that everything is in control of yourself and what happens in their life is nearly all down to them are really very lucky to say this.
In the above article writer says that those who considers themselves unlucky, pays more attention to short term instances of bad luck which are actually random in nature but let me also tell you sometimes these short term instances are long enough to engulf your entire life span.
If you consider the entire human race then the events may be said to occur in random nature as per probability but when it comes down to individuals some people are lucky, some are unlucky while others are, you can say, normal.

Adriana says on October 21st, 2008 at 2:20 am

There seem to be many of us who have suffered through years of things not working out in our favor, even the smallest things.

I have always been torn as to whether it is karmia, luck, or something that I am doing that seems to attract really bad things in my life. I suppose it is hearing “good things happen when you think positive!” that erks me, because I can recall many times when I was so happy, and poof I was slammed. I also noticed that when I go through really bad phases, I get hit from all sides and it lasts for weeks or months at a time.

To make a long story very short, I was born to parents who were not planning on another child, and were not thrilled when I came along. My mother aborted a pregnancy right after mine, so I am thankful I actually made it out. Actually, the thought that maybe I was the one who was not supposed to be here crossed my mind many times, as I could never understand how a life could be filled with so much sorrow.

Growing up I was always the black sheep in my family, as well as school but never understood why. I was never liked very much by anyone, which of course did a number on my self esteem. When I finally felt okay with who I was as a teenager, I was raped. My parents had no response, nor did any friends. After many years of trying to get past that event, I grew in to an adult and when I felt good about who I was, I got to face being assulted a couple of more times. Totally random situations, but put me in a universe and the crazies and bad situations always knock on my door.

Now in my 40’s, I have no friends, no relationship with any member of my family, as I am still a person that nobody seems to like. I am still unsure why, maybe I give off some aura that I am unaware of.

I can just affirm that there are some of us, even when we stay at home and do not answer the phone, bad things keep finding their way in to our lives.

It is tiring, and I am sure there is some way of alleviating it, but after all of these years I still do not have the answer.

We all have a purpose I suppose, maybe so that those with good luck can look at us and see how lucky they are!! lol

Joe says on November 25th, 2008 at 6:09 am

GOOD OR BAD LUCK, FOR STARTERS DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM IT..

I AM LUCKY TO BE ALIVE !!!!

Luck is conditional, I’d say!
good luck and bad do exist in this world , like you and me, they work like likelmystic bank balances..
They work on us , the way we work on our lives..
Honestly..
Well, basically, we humans are all the same,yet we are entirely different…..
We have different auras , different outlooks towards the way, things, are…
this my friends, help us determine if we are truly lucky or not!!

One of the simplest way of have luck is , doing good, I’ve been following the motto “do unto others , as you would like other to do unto you” lately and ,I will not say, that it has been 100% successful, but that actually works..

And I actually felt sorry for the things that I read , here – above…
All I’d say is there is a higher being making ‘note’ of ‘em, and you are sure to have your reward, yes, maybe not in the way you wanted in in gift wrap, but you’ll have it for sure..

cheers!!!

(and btw, try reading a little bout past life karma, it’ll help) ;)

me says on December 1st, 2008 at 12:28 am

I think this article is somewhat misleading…

Kinda rose colored glasses thinking…

The “Think positive” campaign works as well as “just say no” …

One can only control their own actions, not the action of others…and sometimes it’s those others who repeatedly reap havoc on the innocent bystander’s life.

And before the others try saying we choose the people in our lives…that’s not always the case and not true for every situation….such as child abuse..physical, mental and sexual.

deziree says on December 17th, 2008 at 4:15 pm

i am only 8 years old and i am suffering from bad luck and all i am saying is please dont lie 2 me i will follow your tips.i am a girl.

december 17,2008

Aaron says on December 22nd, 2008 at 8:26 pm

There is no such thing as luck! Like religion, it just helps us make sense of the world and what happens to us on a daily basis. We just choose to recognize the things in our life as good or bad and make it a condition of outside forces. You’re probably “lucky” a thousand times a day and you don’t recognize it. Every car you drive by that doesn’t collide with yours goes unoticed. But when it actually happens it’s bad “luck” for that person? Just a matter of chance and how we choose to live and the probability the choices lead to better outcomes. We are all destined to die. Aren’t we all living a bad “luck” life then? You can’t get “lucky” on this one….but good “luck” to you, you’re going to need it!

matt hein says on January 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 am

k then heres everything thats happen to me in the last month u tell me if its luck or not my x that cheated on me 5 times and used me came to my house, my keyboard an mouse broke, my tire and spare tire went flat on the same day, i got a big gash on my 42 in tv, i fried a mouse in my toster and didnt no it was in there tell it was done, my xbox 360 ruined 4 of my games and got the red rings of death an my new girl freind left me for someone all in one month.

Atlantis4569 says on January 9th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

Well, I truly think this article is B.S. I have a son that’s 20 years old and he has the worst luck of anyone I’ve ever known. He would give the shirt off his back to someone if he thought they needed it more than him. He works at a lumber yard making $6.22 an hr while the rest of the guys that got hired after him are making $8 an hr. He has talked to his boss about this but the guy basically tells him if you don’t like it you can quit. Then he gets his GED, excitedly, calls me up and tells me something has finally gone right! I tell him how proud I am of course. =) as it’s something he’s been striving for for a long time now, and the same day his wife throws a temper tantrum because he didn’t have $30 to give her for a phone card. So what does she do? She throws him out. He sleeps in his car for the night. And I moved about 900 miles away and he has no one else. Then his wife comes outside and says, “you don’t have your mommy to run to anymore, do you”. The next day he calls the Army recruiting office and they raised the point system to get in, as he had tried to get in before but needed his GED. The army changes it 2 mths before he gets his GED no less. He gets it and now they tell him he has to retake the test. Then he calls the Marine Corps and they tell him they won’t accept a GED unless he has 15 college credits. I could go on and on about my son from the time he was 18 yrs old he has had the worst luck I’ve ever seen in my life. The more he tries to better himself, the worse off he is. So whoever says that there is no such thing as luck has never been unlucky a day in their life. Some people just can’t get ahead no matter what they do or how hard they try. Other people who have good luck usually know somebody that can get them in a good position or have everything handed to them. I know because my husband NEVER has bad luck. Example: He recently got a job for a 6 figure income after he told the boss he didn’t want the job. That is now why I live 900 miles away from home. Last week he got pulled over for being drunk, went through all the sobriety tests and was never taken to jail. He’s a bullshitter, and by all rights should have been hauled off. He was what? YES, LUCKY. But he did find a man in the bar to drive him home. I have seen things handed to my husband, and get away with so much, simply because I think it’s partly because he doesn’t take any shit off anyone. So, in my eyes, the honest people seem to have the bad luck while the bullshitters and ones that won’t take any crap out there seem to have the best of luck. And I’m right in the middle. I have had very bad luck until I met my husband 11 yrs ago, now I have pretty good luck. I am constantly telling my son to “hang in there” and his response is always, “that’s all I CAN do mom.” I try to help him out whenever I can, but it’s hard since we’re so far apart now. So all of you with bad luck, just hang in there, cause that’s all you can do. There’s a reason why we wish people good luck in this world, because bad things happen to good people. So good luck to each one of you.

Kirk Roberts says on January 30th, 2009 at 3:00 am

I would like to see the author of this article and Dr. Wiseman to present facts to back up their position. Otherwise, it is just more BS.

Andrew Riley says on February 12th, 2009 at 12:22 am

Don’t mean to insult anyone here but if you believe that there is not such thing as bad luck you are a pompous buffoon.
A baby is born in Africa during a famine and dies in its first year of life. Another baby is born in the USA to a powerful family and because of this goes on to Yale and to become the President of the United States even though this person has little intelligence or ability. We all start out with a big dose of luck good or bad.

yay area says on February 13th, 2009 at 6:24 am

in the past 5 years i was shot and had my store robbed, my dad got brain cancer and died, my husband cheated on me, and then i got ovarian cancer , so please tell me why i have bad luck?

Lucy says on February 26th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

I disagree with this article, in fact it hurts and upsets me that anyone could turn around to me and say the reason these things have happened in my life are down to bad luck.

I am 23 and i spent 3 years suffering from self harm, depression etc.

I have worked so hard and for so long to pull myself out of the situation i was in, to look towards life and a future with hope and strength and belief. I have changed things in my life which didn’t work, revisited things i gave up on when i shouldn’t have. I have pursued the things which make me happy and begun to build for myself a life with endless posibilities.

So then why? I focus upon the positives in my life, the things which make me happy and others around me. Yet. Every time i pursue these things something happens which knocks back my attempts to follow through, to change the things in my life which are bad. Or to live a balanced life. there has not been the space of 2 months over the last two years where something has not happened. I will not give up, i am not that type of person. But don’t turn around and tell me that i haven not made the effort or that i am SIMPLY LAZY.

Patti says on February 28th, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Please I would like a answerto this I hope you answer the comments that are made. How is it possible to react to something bad in your life with a positive attitude. I have lived in terrible places , boarding houses where there was always loud music,noise, fighting, I never had any peace. I have longed for a nice home , a place I could have peace and quiet so that I can work on changing my life. Every single time i move I get the same thing over and over. I get nosy neghbors, noisy neighbor.I am a quiet person, I have moved in this complex three times , each time I HAVE had to deal with neighbors who have no respect for others. I got one who banged her cane on her ceiling if she felt I made too much noise, to another one who was nosy and bothered me everyday
I always had neighbors who played their tv loud (which is so annoying), I PRAyed and prayed that the next place I go I would hhave a nice quiet neighbor, well here I am again I live above a guy who plays his tv loud , I have asked him to turn it down and he says to me he is allowed to play it loud till twelve o clock, so now I have to deal with tthis everynight. I am wondering why the heck am I attracting this iin my life. How the heck am I supposed to react in a positive manner I Feel like I have bad luck and can’t find the right place to live. I don’t think it is fair that he has to play his tv loud,and I have had this mostly everyplace I lived. So what am I to do with this . I HAVE TO feel uncomfortable because he enjoys his tv loud, this is not fair and it really makes me feel that I have rotten luck. I can name other reasons why I feel I have bad luck or fate is punishing me for something i don’t even know I did wwrong. How can I deal with this

jatt says on March 3rd, 2009 at 4:59 am

wht if one man born in the house of Bill of gates and another in slum, but the thinking level of both are same. ? i think this must be called luck.
lets say if two sales person go to two different clients, one meets with very big buyer and he gets order, but on the other hand another first strucked in the traffic and could reach and even when reaches the customer to whom he approches is small shopkeepr,,,,, wht u would called this luck or opprtunity or acting on right time…..
i think its bad luck
i agree with author of articale that we can turn bad luck into good one by changing our perception but how if one could not,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

sam says on March 3rd, 2009 at 3:57 pm

i dissagree with some bits and some i dont

disagree – people do have better luck than others, i have bad luck all the time but what i do basically is just take my temper out on something, not realising that some of it could be caused by me. I try to avoid it make it right, it sometimes doesnt work. I had a horrible day on my birthday last year ever since then i have had bad luck i suppose its kind of wearing off.

Agree – People may take it too far and give up if this is really bothering them, all i do now is just whenever something bad comes i just show no emotion and think about good things totally nothing to do with all the bad luck and i forget about it. But sometimes i feel what the article said, feel like the universe is out to get you, i think sometimes that im so screwed up that people have cursed me people inperticular that are my enemies.
Thats my thoughts .

Ray says on March 6th, 2009 at 10:49 pm

As someone who fits into those with the negative external locus of control, I want to change that. All my friends who know I suffer from depression and anxiety know I have this strong belief that universe, God, etc is out to get me. I’ve tried really hard to let that idea go, even left the church. Point being, I want to change but the problem is I don’t know how. This author makes it seem easy to just change, for me, 24 years of thinking this way or 24 years developing in this direction that’s really taking a toll on my life now – living without hope, living in fear. So my question is, you say what I should do (change yur way of thinking), but the question is HOW. How do I change? How do I stop automatically and without any hesistance going into this thought process of I’m cursed/unlucky? It takes me bitching with my friend to understand I am in the wrong, but it takes hours and hours of thought on this. How do you change….HOW??? Changing a psyche isn’t so easy, it’s quite complex….I need help.

Rafael Diogo says on March 8th, 2009 at 3:28 pm

So let me see…i hope not to sound like a retarded..but plz answer my questions…i think i suffer from bad luck…all my days are shit..in my house..and at work…stupid thing is that..i know everyday something bad will happend…(you may ask me to do somethig about it!..like what?? kill myself)…and it always does…even if im at home alone..some crap happens,…funny funny is that only one good thing happend..like when you argue with ur child…and give him a sugar after that..”im sorry son”..believe me, i know it sounds very stupid..but its true.. i started to notice that along time ago…so i have no faith in god, i do believe in bad luck…i always can guess how my day will go one, alot of crap….untill i die…

Alex says on March 28th, 2009 at 5:54 pm

sorry but i think that was a terrible article on my birthday someone i was realeted and loved died my dog broke my most preceious item 4 days after i got it my laptop broke with all my school information on it so i have to make up that whole quarter againe its bad theres much more but im not going to waste your time

john says on April 4th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

WOW this article has changed my life

MR L says on April 6th, 2009 at 1:53 pm

“To improve your fortune, first decide that what happens is nearly always down to you”

That’s not necessarily true though, I consider myself a person an unlucky person even though I try to remain a positive one, that “bad luck” keeps striking again and again.

Here are a few incidences of my “bad luck” where I had no or very little control over.

Firstly I am a very short male, now sure it’s to do with my hereditary genes and I have short parents.
Whilst my sister is about the height as me being a short female is much less problomatic than being a male of the same height.
Sure I understand that there are lots of short people in the world but I am the shortest amongst all my many cousins.
I tried to not to think of myself as different to anyone else, but even to this day I get embarrassed every now and again when a small child in a supermarket would stare at me and tell shout “Mummy look at that small man!”, or when out socially someone would always shout, “he’s short isn’t he!”
Okay I should stop feeling sorry for myself and I know many people have far worse physical impairments than me, that said however there never seems a day now that I don’t wish I would wake up and find myself normal size.

So that to me is a slice of bad luck, not of my making and something I cannot reverse or make better regardless of what else I do in my life.

Another huge and impacting piece of bad luck, I got a relatively rare serious illness when I was 18/19 I had to spend many weeks in hospital and I gave up my studies in university.
Again another piece of bad luck that I had no control over.

I had quite a good job and was well respected in the company I worked for, but all that shattered when a female work colleague falsely accused me of harrasing her over the telephone at home.

I was suspended and an internal work investigation was carried out, I was cleared for no wrong doing, but by then rumours had spread amongst the work place and I never felt the same respect that I had before amonst my colleagues, my reputation had been tarnished and I had no control over that happening whatsoever.

I didn’t tell too many friends about this case but one friend I did open up to about it.
He committed suicide a few years later(nothing to do with my story…he had his own problems).

A few years ago my work place shut down and I was made redundant.
I spent a lot of time on the internet investing a lot of money in various schemes, I lost all my investments.
Sure this bad luck I did have control over since I could have chosen not to invest in these companies, but the had I not lost my job at that precise time, I wouldn’t have lost the money because those companies all closed very soon after I invested large amounts of money. If I lost my job later, then these companies would not exist to tempt me with parting with my money…..so bad luck and bad timing seem to have collided together
at the same time.

On safer financial ground 5 years ago I invested some money in a special 5 year building society account, where the final money that I would get from my account would be linked to the various financial indexes and house prices.
Just a year ago, all was looking rosy and I was expring to see some health return for my money, jusy one more year to wait.
What happens?……..Only one of the most serious economic downturns the world has seen…. so much for my 5 year investment then!
Now tell me that isn’t bad luck!

There are several other instances of bad luck that I can site but I won’t bore you with those.
Like I said I try to remain positive, but this is usually a temporary state as another slice of bad luck inevitable interferes with my life one again.

Okay you could argue that I am only focussing on all the bad things that have happened in my life, but I have looked at it in a balanced way.
I often say to myself, let me list all the incidences of good luck versus bad luck.
Sorry to say my good luck list is pretty thin, and most of any “good luck” that I have tend be of the minor impact or importance variety.
I would think that I currently have had much more serious bad luck set backs than the typical 40 year old citizen and many things I have had no input into.

Am I a lucky person that has lots of good luck….certainly not, do I have lots of bad luck….I certainly do.

Perhaps something will happened in my life that will turn my luck around and perhaps positive thinking can help me but history in my life suggests that my luck isn’t likely to change whatever I do.

NOT A WHINNER says on April 18th, 2009 at 1:59 am

I’m reallt glad I saw this. This is complete BS people do have bad luck just ask my dead brother. they aren’t saying their luck is bad because they have some kind of distorted POV they are not delusional. People really do suffer in this world and usually at the hands of other people. So all those people who were killed in Darfur and their grieving families are whiney babies who just need to get real according to this guy.

Jonny Moore says on April 19th, 2009 at 11:36 pm

Wow,
Im a bit split between the two theories, even though Im well nested in the ‘bad luck’ camp in this world. Theres is always someone less fortunate (these posts prove that alone), but thats not really a valid argument to ’soldier on’ while other (Im afraid maybe more ‘ingnorance is bliss’ type people) seem to just find a dollar/pound in the mud they stood in [anaology].

Im convinced (by my own exp) by what Ive seen in my 37 years that there really is something at work that just happens to fk us ‘unluckers’ over EVERY time – even when we get over the line with that alien ‘winners’ feeling, something just pops into view like in a holywood tear jerker to full the rug from under our feet.

I too am smart, thoughtful, honest and do the right thing at every turn – maybe this is the weakness myself the these other people share… we arent nasty enough to take take take. “Do unto others, etc ” I must say just seems to leave me poorer and taken advantage of, again, every time. I have little contact with my family, and few friends left to spent time with (which happens at my age I know), but no friends to have a meal with even,… and I see others with great friends, and good times – I cant help slightly envy them, but also warmly pleased that at least someone is enjoying the ride.

Ive done the whole studying psychology thing, belief systems, root wiring etc, but still not convinced these techniques suggested here actually change the luck factor, but simply divert the concious mind attemtion to unlearn the bad feeling when triggered, or when approaching a situation. This DOESNT change the actual features of an unlucky persons day. Im amazed at their persistence to keep their chin up – its a world of pain, hurt and unpleasant considerations leading to severe frustration.

A ‘lucky’ person cant really, truly imagine the combinations and timings of the events of bad luck – simply because it doesnt seem to happen to them. Sure they can breakdown during catastophe like anyone can, but the daily tap tap of bad luck and jinxed events just seems to clock along with every day. Periods of ‘good luck’ are basically nothing horeendous or bad happening. Good Events and luck just dont seem to appear.

The sadest point is that Im sure most of these ‘bad luckers’ are genuine, nice and kind, respectful, intelligent people… the post again proe that (in most cases, amongst a few nurotics) – and they will be 2nd or 3rd when they clearly had the talent and apptitude to be 1st,… but thats not who got the award… it was the somewhat less talented but more lucky ‘other’ individual. And we wish them ‘well done’.

i conclude by saying, I hope there is a place somewhere, somehow that gives us back some of what we had to endure, Im mean really endure (lucky people chuckling to themseleves at this point..).

I believe in no religeon and very much in organic things, but for the factors of luck, it seems it must be a head/mind thing that need rewiring-sorting out…. at least it seems that to the lucky people.

Best wishes all.

Jonny Moore says on April 19th, 2009 at 11:47 pm

last note:

I bet (dont be sillY) all the unlucky people here have won NOTHING worth mentioning or that they can gladly remember before, and yet I also bet the other camp of ‘normal’ and ‘lucky’ people, have won something a few times,… lucky people, a real decent win, not a 5/2on at the races, but something they clearly remember.

Id love it if people can reply YES/NO to this as its a great case study and does actually prove some sort of point. You can win if you dont buy a ticket – I BOUGHT HUNDREDS of metaphorical tickets in my time, yet seem to always look up at the podium applauding someone else.

Personally I just cant think of anything Ive ever won since being Pontins Prince at 5 years old. Whofookinpa. Maybe I should just be glad to be breathing and alive, and not at the bottom lifes ‘bad luck’ barrel – but I KNOW for sure Im not floating around somewhere in the lucky one.

best of luck!

Jonny Moore says on April 19th, 2009 at 11:50 pm

meant:
You can*t win if you dont buy a ticket, they say

wheres the edit here?! (aint none, just my luck lol – kidding, my error)

chris says on May 8th, 2009 at 11:42 am

What a stupid article. By virtue of the same logic you’re saying that someone who gets randomly shot in the head for no reason has the same amount of luck as someone who wins the lottery with one ticket. Don’t be stupid. Anyone who makes such statements about people having the same amount of luck is a fucking idiot and clearly hasn’t felt the bitter taste of misfortune. I personally have and believe me, there would have been nothing I could have done to solve it. No positive thinking can change anything at times. Things go from bad to worse. Nature of the universe. Yes luck is random as said, but because it is so random, some people could get horrifically unlucky their entire life, while someone else gets nothing but great luck. With even just a 1 in a 1000 chance of something going wrong, some people have it happen to them all the time. Look at poker for instance. I have had hands in poker over the course of about an hour that I have cost me a lot of money. Because I became convinced that the poker website was a set up, I went onto a poker odds calculator to see what the odds were of losing the hands like I did with the hands I had. It was 7800/1. And it happened in about an hour. Nothing you can do but it happened to me and thats that. So people who talk about making your own luck are fucking idiots who have never had the bitter taste. But fuck it. You get carried away

pawan says on May 11th, 2009 at 12:56 am

“Stop believing that what happens in your life is down to the vagaries of luck, destiny, supernatural forces, malevolent other people, or anything else outside your self.”

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY TO WHO EVER WROTE THIS ID.OTIC ARTICLE, ALL YOU KNOW IN YOUR LIFE IS WHAT OTHER ID.OTS THOUGT YOU YEARS BEFORE, AND THEM, AND SO ON. IF YOU HAD SOME INTELIGENCE IN YOU, AND KNEW WHAT 50-50 IS, your opinion would be different “it is something to do with mathematics which looks like you have no idea about, but you still managed to get a degree” All intelligent people that have a problem similar to mine of seeing the probability something going wrong, THAT IS TOTALLY OUT OF YOUR CONTOROL FROM 50-50 TO 10-100 “for your information this means 10 out of 100 possibilities or 1-10 percentage wise, this means exactly the same thing”
THANK EVIL IT’S NOT 1 OUT OF 100, I AM STILL ALIFE AFTER GOING DOWN TO 1 OUT OF 10, believe me if there was 10 bridges to chose from and only one will collapse, hello there goes Robert down for a swim.
And yes, I have a proof, after years of bul-sh.. it happens to a point I break down. But that is another story. Lets see if this gets posted first. It seems like everybody that read this idi.tic article was pretty polite to the author, here is what I have to say, f u ..

Blowfish says on May 13th, 2009 at 1:42 am

There’re people who seem to attract bad luck more than others that has nothing to do with ignorance, laziness, lack of skill, lack of forethought, or just plain foolishness like you mentioned above. Take Abraham Lincoln’s life story for example. How many failures & bad luck did he have to endure before becoming a president? His story did not have a good ending. Was it his fault?

Asher says on May 14th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

I do not agree with the sentiment of this article. I am not a pessimist…i am a positive, hardworking, every ‘cloud has a silver lining’ kind of guy but feel that i’m having a prolonged period of bad luck at the moment.

I’ve endured physical and sexual abuse as a child, i’ve been in a near fatal car crash as an adult, i’ve been burgled on more than two occasions, and am now really feeling down on my luck.

Even after what i went through as a child, i managed to Graduate University, secure a good job, run my own business and have a beautiful little boy who is the centre of my world.

Recently my business has collapsed, i’m in a mountain of debt, am having marital problems, and have been disowned by my family.

I’m telling you this because i’ve heard my brother (who has not been through the same heartache as me and lives in a mansion with a Ferrari parked outside) tells me the same B/S as the author of this article:

“you make your own luck”
“you only get what you deserve in this life”
“blah, blah, blah”

What i want to add to this debate is that things happen that are out of our control. It is luck that determines whether that will be good or bad. There are ofcourse other factors too but how we frame and experience is all down to us as individuals. Fact: ther are not many things that we can say for certain are infinite… there is a fixed amount of cash/wealth available but it is distributed unevenly across the world. Luck, in my opinion, is the same – distributed unevenly.

After a very tough start in life, i’ve had a period where everything was beautiful, and now things are falling appart again. I just hope that i can get out of this ‘unlucky spell’ soon… i will take the opportunity when it arises

Kirk Reeves says on May 20th, 2009 at 10:42 am

I have to say there are both lucky and unlucky people and because of statistics, the unlucky far outnumber the lucky. Only 5 out of 100 will be well off or rich. Anyway a question of nine is Can you make a funny movie about being unlucky

Monica Ann says on June 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 am

I just came across this article, and of course there are many similar articles out there, with the same “make your own luck” theme. The problem with using one narrow point of view like this, is that there is no explanation for the bad luck that some positive thinkers have. I have always looked at the bright side of life and hoped for better times. However, I live in a city of closures. Closed mills, closed stores, closed offices and yes, closed minds. If you are unemployed, the jobs go to younger people in this city and there is plenty of evidence to prove it. It has nothing to do with thinking positively. I have the unfortunate circumstance of being well over 50, with no college degree and having debt. This debt is because I was downsized from a career and lost my health insurance. The medical debt is overwhelming and no amount of positive thinking is going to chance that. Basically, Wisconsin is the home of phony type people. I totally agree with the person who said that because they are a passionate, caring person, they feel they have bad luck. I think that’s true.

Bob Jones says on June 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Of course there is bad luck. Like the second poster said, being born in Sudan is bad luck. Even if you worked really hard, in that arid climate, poor economy, and (in some African countries) civil war, in the end your achievements will be meager. That is bad luck. No, I cannot move out of Africa and immigrate for America on a whim. So the fault for my being poor would not rest on me, but on the bad luck of being the son of some poor African man. On the other hand, imagine being the son of a multi-billionaire in America. Now, without working or studying at all, you can live an entire life of luxury, assuming your dad gives you all his money. That is good luck. The luxury cannot be attributed to my own achievements but on extreme good luck. I was born to a billionaire. Your article needs major revising.

Bob Jones says on June 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 pm

Asher–I do hope your luck gets better soon. Yes, the economic crisis is out of our control… but I’m thinking that if the Americans never let Bush into the Presidency everyone would be a lot better off. Your luck is really bad… at least be glad you weren’t born as a slave in some third world country. I don’t think your brother is very nice… after all, your his (I’m assuming, biological) sister and he won’t even let you live in his house? But how did you manage to get into so much debt?

Kristen Heideger says on June 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Hmm… well all I gotta say is that this article is TOTAL bs!!! I’ve been through soooo many horrible situaitons in my life, and it only keeps getting worse for me!!! The past two and a half years have bene the most difficult to get through for me. My dad had to be put in a nursing home for the rest of his life after a surgery went wrong, my mother and I had to move to NC because our apartment was unable to be lived in from an electrical fire, and I just found out I may have to get surgery myself for an ovarian cyst, and I have never had surgery ever!!! :(
I’m also having to stay back in 11th grade because I failed it. How is that my fault when the school I now unfortunately go to never gave me the help that I really needed??? One of the school principals gave me the excuse that I “failed myself”. :/
Well, I got news for some people, “Not everyone can make their life work out right!!!” This is going to be the second time in my life that I’m going to be held back in school. I have ADHD, but I did wonderful with my education where I used to live. I think luck is a very real thing, and some people just don’t get it when they are the ones that SHOULD get it. Thanks for reading everyone.

ghost says on July 22nd, 2009 at 12:14 am

I just came across this article (I googled “bad luck”, of course I feel I’m having bad luck for the past 15 years so that’s why I’m here), and really want to say something. I think part of this article is true, because a person has to work hard to get what he/she wants. But I believe the ones who are more positive on failures are usually the ones who has never really encountered bad luck before (no matter what you do, you cannot break out of the cycle). I’m definitely not here to blame anyone or anything, I believe I didn’t do well on most of the things. But some people are just lucky, it’s good luck to not have to put that extra effort to get something that they want in life. Or it’s good luck to even have a healthy mentality? No one wants to believe they have bad luck. And people with better luck should not or don’t have the right to judge people with bad luck, because they basically don’t know what they are going through. I think the reason why there are so many people getting mad here because they feel they are not being understood. And they feel they are blamed for having bad luck, or even having the mentality that is more pessimistic? At this point, I’m not sure which has caused which (constantly having bad luck -> pessimistic, or the other way around). But we didn’t choose to have this mentality, is what I wanted to say. The thing is, maybe when 2 people have the same background and everything, if one of them is optimistic and positive, but the other one pessimistic, the one who thinks more negatively would be living in hell, while the positive one chooses to be happy and thinks everything happened for a reason. Although no two ppl are exactly alike, that was just an example. Because we are all different given the fact that every day we encounter many diff things and these things directly affect how we think and see life. But I have to say that the author doesn’t really know what the people (who believe they have bad luck) feel or have gone through, does he really think he knows everything? The answer is, no one in this world can judge anyone for the actions they take, we are the only ones who can judge ourselves. So writing an article like this would make many people unhappy because he is not convincing enough. Because we can never know for sure what another person has gone through, physically or mentally. But it is ALWAYS random or bad luck for a person to have gone to a point where they are feeling depressed and having mental breakdown. It’s a fact that these people are sad and upset. Because they cannot do anymore to be more positive, ONLY if they have a really strong motivation to break through, but these people would think, why is it me who has to put that extra effort in everything? Life is always unfair if you ask me, and there’s always people who have better luck. By luck, I don’t mean random things like winning the lottery, of course, that is luck. But what I mean is, it’s a luxury and luck to even think more positively, or might have someone guiding you how to think positively or supporting you when you are down. that is luck. But you cannot judge anyone that they are causing themselves bad luck. Although I believe in myself and I don’t believe in God, but this is about chances. Now it’s like I’ve put all my 100% on everything I do but it only makes up the 50%, the other 50% is by luck. Sometimes I just feel we’re feeling bad because we have to put that extra effort on almost anything (not just one thing) and others don’t seem to have to do anything. That’s why we believe in bad luck. Though I agree that everyone should put 100% effort in doing all the things that we’re doing. But the depression in our mind when we are trying to find a way out, positive people like this author won’t understand. I’m not saying he wrote this because he’s arrogant, because this is what he believes in, a good thing for himself. But he didn’t really try to understand people from all walks of life or diff background may have been feeling about their life.

I have a degree from a decent university. And for the last 15-20 years I had been having bad luck. I was raped, and does it mean I should blame myself for that? I should only blame myself for not being so strong after these things happened, but not how these happened. Also, I think this article is good for people with minor luck issues and a normal mentality, it makes them stronger, It’s always good to believe in yourself. But for people who suffer from bad luck, it seems to be a very disrespectful thing, and its like saying we’re blamed for whatever that happened.

actually this is pretty long, I’m getting to a point where I dont know what I’m trying to say here. Because there’s too much in my mind that I want to talk about, and basically I’m not a person who is taking sides on this topic.

ghost says on July 22nd, 2009 at 12:26 am

Also, in replying to some comments above, some people said we need to see things from other perspectives. Of course that is correct, some people just seem to always blame on their bad luck. But it gotta have a beginning – bad luck. Then it goes into a cycle. Being strong is what everyone who thinks they have bad luck is trying to do, otherwise we wouldn’t be here alive. I guess we’re just asking for others’ understanding. You cannot really have the right to tell us to accept whatever that has happened, if you told me that being raped makes me stronger in life, I’m sorry, then I wouldn’t want to be strong by having that experience, do you know what I mean? Life isn’t as easy as some people might have thought, just because they don’t know what others are going through. I’m not asking others to not accept bad things and never meant to ask them to keep being angry for whatever else that happened, I’m already at a point where I don’t have feelings about my life and about bad things. I do want to have a better life, that’s why I’m constantly looking for chances to improve myself, but it proves to me that it’s harder for me than others due to my constant depression resulting from bad experiences. It’s just harder for us to be positive.

Tradewinds says on July 22nd, 2009 at 6:30 pm

The comments I’ve read here are so on target, the author is not in tune with other people lives. He lives in dream world. And it is a real shame for him to put all the blame on the individual. Bad luck has followed me around forever, problem after problem. I’m 63, male, college graduate, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. I’m not a gambler, drunk or drug head. I’ve been making my own way in this ‘ole world since I was 13 years old. No reason to get into my troubles. The fact is this author is so full of it. He does not take into account that there are people out there that are stuggling with negative entities that have attached themselves to individuals. Many people don’t even realize that this 5th demenision exists in real life, BUT–IT DOES!!I’ve known since 1997 that something was controlling my life–I’ve gone to many lenghts, spent money, searched for someone to loose me from this. It’s one thing to be someone dealing with such , but this canny author that thinks he knows all and the rest of us or slobs and unachievers by our own doing is an Idiot. I pray for the little girl, at age 13 has more insight that this author.

lauren says on July 23rd, 2009 at 6:30 pm

I broke a mirror 3 years ago and ever since i’ve had 8 people very close to me die, I broke my arm and my wrist, my grandmother died on my first reconcilliation and both my grandmothers had heart surgery why is god messing with me, a 9 year old.

Harry Oleary says on July 26th, 2009 at 3:51 am

I stepped over a drainboard and Ive twisted my thumb,hand and my foot,my back hurts when I run, my girlfreind wouldnt dance with me at the disco and my mums making me stop being so secretive.why am I wanted in the world,why.

Adam says on July 29th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

While I agree that there are things that we can do to improve the circumstances in our lives, there is bad luck out there – just as this article indicated. Perhaps, the only thing we can do to reduce bad coincidences that happen to us (by chance) is to think good/positive thoughts – thoughts of gratitude – although it may seem difficult because some people do suffer hardship in life, and meditate. Meditation calms our mind, clears our bad thoughts, and gets us on track with what we have to do to improve our lives.

Yes. There is such thing as bad luck. Even Warren Buffett – the world’s greatest investor – admits that there is luck. However, we can complain about it or we can reduce it by meditating and thinking positive thoughts.

shianne says on August 5th, 2009 at 2:18 am

well we went on a baot and my brother said some ones going to dround with he was right my 3mouth old graayhound died with that he was realy close to me and my husban just died and im wana kill my self

Linda says on September 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am

The author is obviously lacking empathy and compassion. My guess is he’s very self absorbed and feels he’s entitled to everything he’s gained while the rest of us struggle with getting up in the morning.

I can tell you about identity theft. It is a nightmare beyond your wildest dreams. With that identity theft, are credit card fraud, etc., which you have to spend money to defend. If you are lucky, it’s in a state you can drive to, but if not, you have to hire a lawyer in that state. Additionally, debt collection scams are rampant. You have to defend yourself against a lawsuit after you get a default judgment. That default judgment gives the creditor the right to garnish your wages. This is how it goes: The debt collector serves the complaint at a non-existing address or one that has not been resided by you in many years. You fail to appear in court to answer this complaint. You lose. Default Judgment. My luck is pretty bad. Just suffice it to say, this is probably the least problematic in my life.

However, if you give this brat a few years of defending this type of claim, he’d be tearing up his article and writing apologies to all of us. His publisher is going to make money on this dribble (I’m sure they don’t buy into it but they know that people are pretty much sheep and can be led by the nose by this kind of behavior).

Here is what the author is saying and I hope he’s reading this as he’ll probably be extremely embarassed.

It is my fault I was a victim of identity theft
it is my fault that (fill in blank) died)
It is my fault I was molested
It is my fault I was raped
It is my fault I was born in poverty
It is my fault that my parents didn’t want me
it is my fault that I lose my job of 30 years due to downsizing
It is my fault that a drunk driver slammed into me causing me to go on disability.
It is my fault that I got cancer/diabetes/some form of illness.
It is my fault…

Hey, if we thought positive, none of this would happen, right?

I have been afflicted with all but two of the above. I get out there every day and work my ass off. I take my kids to their sports meets, watch them, have a great time. My husband jokingly calls me dark cloud because of what he’s seen me go through (and of course, he tried to support me) But every day it’s a struggle and every day it’s something different and most of the time it’s something bad that happens.

Feel pity for this author and wish him good luck because he would never be able to endure like those who have bad things happen to them far more often than a lot of people.

sandeep says on September 10th, 2009 at 12:39 am

it’s good when we read such articles in the time of depression

Yeah right says on September 30th, 2009 at 11:33 pm

so, how about the people who win the lotto? Did they premeditated the outcome? If so, show me the nearest book or site I can go to so I CHOOSE my luck.

unluckyguy says on October 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 am

I am an unlucky guy too. I believe bad luck exist and i am all positive about it :-) I think bad luck and bad happenings are a way of repaying my karmic debt. I believe in previous lives and afterlife. Maybe i was a bad person in my last birth and hasnt paid back for my acts then. So, i am wiping my slate clean in this birth of mine by suffering day to day. Nothing goes right for me. I am not even going to attempt saying things that has and still is going wrong for me.

So, i am all positive about it. The only relief i have is every passing day reduces my debt and someday i will be free of debt and maybe then, i will be a lucky guy and enjoy life like others. I wish and pray to God to leave me memories of this life then so that i wont get carried away with my good luck then.

Ayush says on October 12th, 2009 at 10:40 am

@ robertd and “be says on”.
I have a story much alike yours, a long period of damned bad luck has really deteriorated me a lot, i am having a high iq, and having incredible theories for economics,law and order, science and technology, art, sports, nearly every known subject. But, i am having so many problems, so many, that a common man will really blow up his head.
long badluck has left me very lethargic, irresponsive, depressed and lazy, which is exactly opposite of what i was.
i am just 21 but i had experienced nearly all difficulties possible in this world, yes, i am not joking, even dificulties, people will not be able to imagine.
it is like, when i have to make a call, every phone i will touch, will get out of order or the person i will call, will be unavailable, somehow, i will not be able to talk to him at least that day.

i also believe that some god damned demons are working 24×7 against people with high intellect, especially against those who can lift humanity and humans at a higher place.
Whatever, this article sounds good, a drop of water in a far desert.

It seems like to have a good luck, either the high intellectuals have to practise camouflage, and hide themselves in mass of fool people enjoying good or at least normal luck, or they have to abandon their faith, creed, and special abilities and become a fool themselves, this would be rather submissive or fatalistic of course.

whatever, I am a warrior and will never give up.

driftanizer says on October 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am

there are something in ly which r out of ur control. i got placed in a MNC i did all the required to meet their levels but UNLUCKILY company collapsed…. so where i am wrong… its not probablity its combinotorial theorem its something u cant control….. loose everything lyk me n feel better

liaqat muradzai says on October 22nd, 2009 at 8:33 am

my luck is so bad as bad as pakistan i never guess about this thatswhy i dont belive on luck

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Danny says on November 19th, 2009 at 6:46 pm

i agree, this article this very shallow, almost pompous. its easy to say that bad luck comes down to ignorance, laziness, lack of skill, lack of forethought, or just plain foolishness, when you havent experienced true bad luck. When you try your hardest, make nothing but planned and well thought out decisions, and things still go bad for you. Its the same train of thought that poor people are poor because theyre just lazy. This article, while making some good points, is overall pretty ignorant.