Are you (personally) lucky? [hint: yes!]
As I write this today, there isn't a lot of positive in the world. But ultimately, this virus will go away and the economy will rebound. It might not be for a while, but it will and life will return to normal. I feel for everyone during this hardship, but we will all get through this!
So ask yourself, "do you feel like you're 'lucky'." Luck is defined in the dictionary as: "Success or failure brought on by chance rather than through one's own actions."
First, you're lucky because you live in a country that has infrastructure to allow you to read this post and a government that doesn't have total authoritative control blocking this post. You're also lucky to have the financial means to be able to access the internet. You're already better off than 90% of the world. "So what?" You might ask.
If you know me, I was born in the USA, and put up for adoption right at birth. Did I have a choice about this? Of course not. And with my heritage, I could have easily been born in Laos, working in some fields, no more the wiser.
I was lucky to have parents that loved and cared for me, gave me a roof and allowed me to explore on my own. Sure, my Mom was very protective, but I realize now that was out of love.
Middle school was one of the most rough patches in my life. I had very few friends as I didn't really fit into a "clique". My middle school had a slew of kids with discipline problems; fights were breaking out all the time, drugs were a major issue. Sadly, I was the target for hundreds of racial attacks due to my ethnicity.
Looking back, many of my middle school "friends" were kind of like me, loners, many of which did drugs. For whatever reason I was never okay with doing drugs; maybe my parents had instilled that in me. Fortunately (or luckily), they never pushed the issue with me either, saying "that's cool, or no problem" when I was offered. Who knows where I'd be if I had fallen down that rabbit hole.
Going on to high school, I had not had any work experience and my plan was to get a summer job after my junior year in high school. Sadly, my Mom had fallen ill with cancer that winter, and was gone by June, so my dad just kind of let me do whatever that summer, so I spent nearly every day with my longest time and closest friend (we're still very close today!)
I didn't know what I wanted to do in college, I had thoughts of doing music, but (luckily) I quickly dismissed this path, realizing how difficult to be to maintain that as a career, after seeing my violin teacher who was a very accomplished musician, had to go through just to make ends meet. I decided that engineering would be the most lucrative route with my interests and based on my SAT/ACT scores.
During college, I got an internship and gained valuable work experience through a scholarship application I had submitted! I met several wonderful people while working and was able to get a hands on approach to what the working world was like. During that time, I was able to live in Ireland due to an arrangement with the company, which was an experience of a lifetime!
So was this luck? I'd say most likely.
I was lucky to have enough foresight to choose engineering. No one had ever guided me about my future and what I should be looking for.
I was lucky to have a strong sense of fiscal responsibility; I think I learned by watching my parents carefully keep track of every penny while I was growing up having very little college and credit card debt.
I was lucky that my advisor pushed me to apply for that scholarship. It was something I didn't really want to apply for and half-assed the application, not really understanding that I was applying for an internship.
I was also lucky that one of the interviewers was a dad of an acquaintance at my high school. Was that the tipping point for me ultimately being hired? I really don't know; I'd like to think not.
Is my life lucky? Possibly. However, I really take heart into a former co-worker's message to me: "You know luck is a residue of skill!"
He's right. Did I create my own luck? Absolutely.
College was a time when I was nose-to-grindstone, attending only 3 parties in the course of 5 years while I was at school. I hired several tutors for my classes I struggled with. I used my Friday's to get ahead for the next week. I bit the bullet and swallowed my pride, undergoing counseling when I was floundering, amassing a 1.97GPA for that semester, being placed on "temp enrollment."
My counselor encouraged to reach out to others peers for help. This was difficult for me, as I was a very introverted and shy by nature, however, after much contemplation, I got over my anxiety and found a couple people that were in the same boat as me, struggling in the same classes I was. This was invaluable; for the next year and a half, we worked together, like sled dogs in a team, pulling together to cross the finish line.
It was about this time that I realized that I wasn't alone in this big, complex world. For the longest time, throughout my childhood and most of college, I had felt like I was alone and not worth anyone's time. I had gained 30lbs from high school, and had been depressed for months in dorm room. Branching out and meeting had changed that.
I'm still very good friends with one member of my study group. He jokingly says, "If I had to list all the names of people I'd have to put on that piece of paper to get my degree, I'd have have to get a bigger sheet of paper." He's right, there are so many people that we worked with over those tough years.
Even my working career has been full of challenges. I had a horribly cheap boss at the time. My company was on the brink of financial ruin in 2004; we were furloughed and not given raises for a couple years; I was basically treated like a cub, overshadowed by my "father" who was a 30 year veteran with the company, thus my opinion didn't count for anything. When I questioned an engineering solution from him it was always, "based on my experience." If you can't explain something to me that's not a sound answer. Looking back, I could tell he wasn't confident in what he was doing as I've had to correct some of his errors over the years.
But once my "veteran" counterpart moved onto another job, and my boss retired, I started shining, taking over more and more responsibility, and now 12 years later, am the technical expert in my area. Was that luck? No! I have learned by doing, making mistakes, being part of teams, reading and constantly researching about different topics in my field. Knowledge is POWER; that isn't a joke [haha it is, I work with power on a daily basis]. But seriously, the more you know, the more marketable you will be.
One thing (before this whole virus mess) my company was promoting was building working relationships. And yes, breaking down walls and sharing life stories does help a ton. I can think how many times knowing someone has helped me out over the years, both at work and in furry. It's really incredible; and is all of that luck? Maybe. However, you're always going to be running into people and whether it's this group or that group, you'll naturally find that certain person that you'll naturally clique with. Fortunately for us, the internet has helped us pre-filter a lot of that, as there are literally hundreds of people I would have never gotten to meet throughout these years without connectivity.
I will say this, sitting at home and hoping for that dream job to come by is NOT going to happen. How often I hear people say, "I want to do [insert job/field here] but that's a niche market, if only I knew someone in that field...." Well by simply applying for a job here and there and ultimately not boosting your skill set will not land you anything.
There are several people in my company that are upper level managers that have a two-year technical degree, business degree, or even a music degree! However, they broadened their skills, worked their way up through putting in time and learning aspects of the company and now are very successful. It's interesting to see the ones that haven't bothered to learn, over time they do get flushed out of the system, it isn't immediately, but ultimately 90% of people I've always wondered why they are still here, aren't anymore due to one reason or another.
So yes, a lot of life is luck, however you can increase your chances by learning esoteric skills that on the surface seems useless for your life goals, but turn out being very useful in a different way. Also getting out there and building relationships. Even with hobbies, activities and interest, you will meet people that can give a boost or a lead. It is sad, a lot of life feels like schmoozing with other which can get you in the door, but you can't fake knowledge. Keep on learning; use your luck that you have been given and turn that into reward! Life will beat you down, it beats us all down, however it is only up to us to pick back up and move onward and upward!