For my yearbook quote as a teacher, I wrote down “luck favours the brave”. I also left it in a cafe where costumers can put sticky notes on the walls. Two colleagues who were with me saw what I wrote and we proceeded to have an interesting discussion of what really constitutes luck, and if the brave really do tend to be luckier.
The ambiguous conclusion we reached was the saying could be true or false depending on how you define lucky and bravery. We agreed that as long as you like it and live a happy life, it doesn’t matter. I still quite like the saying, but our talk did make me think about the role that luck has had in my life.
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| The Note Coffee in Ho Chi Minh City if you’re ever in Vietnam. They also have delicious homemade gelato. |
One definition of luck centers on the idea that it’s something you didn’t work for. For example, walking down the street and picking up a $5 bill, or being born to educated parents. The other ‘luck’ is closer to an opportunity that you got because of the work you put in, such as finding a good job because you worked to upgrade your skills and sent out a thousand resumes.
I don’t think we acknowledge the first kind of luck enough for our successes in life. This can lead to a trap in thinking that our successes are because we are better people, better human beings. I’m dedicating this post to the lucky stuff I never worked for but helped me succeed in life. It serves to remind myself to be really freaking thankful every day.
My grade 10 math teacher
In high school, I was shy and stuck to my comfort zone of studying and getting good grades. Ms F was one of the first teachers who pushed me to take on leadership roles outside of academics. It’s mind-boggling to think about the chain of events this triggered in my life. From that first club experience I tried other clubs, volunteered at conferences, applied to jobs, tried entrepreneurship, and moved overseas to see the world.
My parents didn’t believe in TV
The last time we had cable TV was in grade 8, 12 years ago for me. Being a kid without a TV I had to find other sources of entertainment, like reading, drawing, cooking, and crafting. Many of the things I enjoy now I have to credit to reading. I learned how to manage my finances, being emotionally aware, politics, and how to learn what I don’t know. For two years I had Netflix and quite enjoyed that, but I canceled it when I came to China and honestly haven’t missed it. I’ve even noticed that the time I would usually spend watching a show I now use to work on other projects.
Immigrating to an English speaking country
I never appreciated speaking English fluently until I started working overseas, it opens doors like you wouldn’t believe. Traveling through all of Europe and any major tourist destination is easy, browsing the internet is easy, accessing knowledge is easy, and getting work in non-English speaking countries is also easy. A Canadian graduate degree is very transferable to other countries vs. if I had a degree from China.
I don’t like drinking
I’ve tried enough to know that I don’t like the effects of it. It probably makes up 5% of my 15% savings rate while I was living in London. I’ll take a small sip of a friend’s drink to try the taste and then go back to enjoying my own glass of coke with a slice of lemon.
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| Not quite coke with lemon but it’ll do. |
I grew up before Instagram
I feel like I dodged a bullet growing up before the age of social media and everything that involves. We’re only now understanding more of the harmful effects of technology on self-esteem and neural development. This is not to say that technology is bad, but my parents certainly don’t understand social media (even now) and pre-teen me had much less restraint than I do now. That’s a bad combination for a young person growing up. Now that I’m older, I enjoy social media moderately and keep an eye on any negative thoughts.
My friends
It is true that you are the average of the people you surround yourself with. I lucked into some great finds early on. The first friends I made in Canada ensured that I tend to gravitate towards those kinds of friends later and it just continues to snowball. Every year I make new friends and I feel they just make my life better and better. In my second year of teaching, I had a minor tussle with depression for a few months, and it was through the support of my friends that I managed to come out of it whole.
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| My friends make me feel loved and floaty. |
My health
Here’s the worst chronic condition that I suffer from: seasonal allergies. The human body is a wondrous machine that can go wrong in so many ways and the chance that I managed to come out fully functional without major health issues is like playing Russian roulette 1000 times and winning. I can work harder, longer hours while I’m young and use this to speed up my retirement date.
And finally, the biggest one.
My parents cared
This is really winning the life lottery. They were educated and made sure I valued my education as well. Through good schools, I was exposed to high achievers, opportunities, and knowledge. I can speak English, which is the dominant international language. I had a lot of freedom and they never told me I can’t do anything. The first time I learned that there was a stereotype about girls not being able to do math was in teacher’s college, and it came as a shock. Were they the best parents? No. But they did try their best in the ways they knew how and gave me a better life than they had.
This is really quite an eye-opening experience in my own privileges and an acknowledgment that I’m not where I am only because I’m a better human than the next person, or even worked harder than them. I’m working now on paying it forward and being someone else’s luck. Who knows, the student I spend some extra time with after school today can go on to make the world a better place.
*Hard work has nothing to do with luck as a privilege, but it does determine how much further you can take yourself. It’s up to me to make the most of my good start in life.