The reality of luck and the discomfort that causes

 I have noticed that some people have no problem accepting the reality of all sorts of privileges (class privilege, white privilege, cis-het male privilege etc) BUT once you start mentioning just how significant the role that luck plays in life they get uncomfortable. The existence of privilege is one form luck takes but luck can take various forms and the role that it plays in shaping the trajectories of our lives is far more significant than most people are willing to admit. 

Being at the right place at the right time, having the right social capital and resources in general, having relatively good health, having access to good opportunities, having the right tools to access those opportunities and capitalise on them to a significant degree depends on luck. Being conventionally intelligent, not having a disease that affects your ability to be productive and operate at your full potential is being lucky, just being alive is being lucky given the number of people who die everyday. Sudden disability caused by accident can significantly impact one's life, it's a deeply unlucky event that can happen to anyone, even being homeless is mostly being unlucky BUT it's so difficult to accept the reality of luck because it would then mean that we are not necessarily the masters of our destiny...

It goes without saying that in life we must do our best in anything we do but just because we are doing all we can it doesn't necessarily mean that our efforts will bear the fruits we yearn for and probably deserve given the sacrifices we often make for our dreams.

It is difficult to accept the chaos that is our existence and try our best to enjoy the ride as much as we can, it is downright frightening, we want to be in control of everything but sadly our control is limited. 

The passing of my late big sister felt so sudden even though we all knew she was sick, it felt deeply unfair but it was also a reminder of how significant luck is. Due to pure bad luck my sister had a very lethal form of lekeumia, genetic predisposition to any illness is something one has absolutely no control over. 

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