"Lucky" Luke Strikes Again...

The word “Luck” is thrown around all of the time… It seems as though it has often been synonymous with me.  Sure, my name, “Luke”, sounds and looks a lot like “luck.” One of my boyhood baseball idols, Pete Rose, even went as far as signing an autograph to me as to “Lucky Luke.”  (In reality, he had just had a long day and had a lapse in the spelling of my name, but we’ll stick with it as it goes well with the story.) The word “luck” is originally derived from “Łuck”, which just so happens to be Polish and is pronounced as “lootsk”. So, there is that very distinguishable commonality.  The definition of “luck” in the form of a noun is as follows:

1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities:

With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.

2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance:

He had no luck finding work.

3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person:

She's had nothing but bad luck all year.

4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend:

This rabbit's foot is my luck.

            Some folks have often said that I am the luckiest man in the world. (-Usually this is said in a state of haste and not always in the friendliest of means with a bit of attitude along with it.) However, I couldn’t agree more and believe this is indeed a true fact.  I did state this in my very own wedding speech a little over eight years ago as I stole a quote from the Iron Horse, Lou Gerig. (I did quote him to ensure that he was credited though.) 

            To say that luck has been on my side throughout my lifetime would be a gross understatement.  I have much to be thankful for.  A loving, healthy family that includes the best wife I could ever imagine, three little rays of sunshine, JD, Nolan, and Kat, two wonderful brothers, loving parents that have been the constant oak trees to lean on throughout my life, a mother-in-law that is so kind and caring, and a great host of other family members and friends that have served as great inspiration throughout life.  I have also been lucky to share many moments with some extremely valued family members who have passed away, but shared memorable times with me while here. –These are the people and things I am indeed lucky for.

            As far as the other facets of life, I have had great fortune, that some may call luck, on my side as well.  Here, I attribute a few things to the fortune.  First and foremost, the persistence. Persistence, persistence, persistence. (And then more persistence.)  Some call it an addictive personality, however I call it persistence. There is probably a fine line between the two, but I certainly don’t need to see that.

Next, positive thinking.  My opinion is that positive thinking puts everything else in place and truly legitimizes the odds of a perceived “chance” falling in one’s favor.  Just think about it for a minute… When was the last time you accomplished anything going into it thinking that you did not have a chance to succeed? 

Finally, there is some type of horseshoe or rabbit’s foot involved, but this is the “chance” aspect.  The chance aspect, or luck as some may call it, is maximized by persistence and positive thinking.  Still, there are no guarantees, and someone needs to make the right cards fall into place.  Faith?  Luck? A mixture of both?  I don’t claim to have this answer. What I do know is that some call me “Lucky Luke.”  For the record, I don’t have any problem with the name and hope it sticks for a long time! 

Good huntin'. -luke