Are you preparing to make a difference or preparing to do nothing? Will your options be determined by “the luck of the draw” or will they be determined by your planning, preparation and hard work?
I just finished reading an editorial by George Wills, conservative commentator with the Washington Post. He was reflecting on a commencement address recently made by Mitch Daniels, former Governor of Indiana and currently the President of Purdue University.
As he reflected on the wisdom imparted to the graduating students, I began reflecting on the graduation process we will all go through. That is the process of transitioning, graduating, from our career or work to the time of opportunity, from job to options, and from 3rd to 4th quarter, or as Bob Buford says…. Life II.
Much of Mitch Daniels comments were directed towards the progressive and debilitating thought process that our circumstance, options and opportunities are essentially a matter of “luck”. The pervasive and enticing perspective that anyone’s achievements are not their own, but controlled or directed by usually sinister outside forces against which you have little control and that you must look to Government to protect and promote you.
Is Government replacing God?
First of all, this viewpoint about life suggests that Government is replacing God and that our choices and work ethic don’t matter. Try telling LeBron James and his Cavalier teammates that luck was the causative reason for their winning the NBA championship. Will details the progressive agenda: “Government must comprehensively regulate, redistribute and generally fine-tune society in order to engineer “fairness” to counter life’s pervasive and pernicious randomness (“luck”).”
Many years ago I researched various thought leaders about the meaning of “luck”. My conclusion was that “positive results’’ occurred as a consequence of consistently attempting to solve a problem, being willing to fail often and celebrating each success as it developes. “The harder I work, the luckier I get” was the way Samuel Goldwyn described it. Daniels quoted Thomas Edison:
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
Faith, work and the ability to recognize options and alternatives are the key ingredients to a purposeful and fulling life. When you combine those attributes with a focus on positively impacting others, you are taking purpose and fulfillment to an even higher level. Then when you apply those principles to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages of your life and in retirement, amazing things can happen.
A Faithful Life
It’s what you do with what you have, what you have been given to steward, that makes the biggest difference in living a life that can be described as Faithful to the end, Faithful for a lifetime.
The idea of luck is a pernicious deterrent
We’ve examined luck and found it a false promise and a pernicious deterrent to finding both meaning and purpose in our lives.
Let’s continue on the journey of life together….and be Faithful for a lifetime.
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-Bruce