Interesting Article About Luck

Rationalists don't believe in luck, at least as the common person thinks of it. Guess I'm gonna go with the irrationalists. Lucky streaks, unlucky streaks ... is there some principle at work in the Cosmos?

My personal philosophy is this: embedded in the warp and woof of the Cosmos are strands of potentiality. I believe we can follow threads to fortunate or unfortunate ends. Also, I make room for the Cosmic Trickster:
 a force that can play havoc with the best laid plans of mice and men, as they say.

Be that as it may, I was happy to read Kate Rockwood's article How To Get Lucky, which was featured in the February 2016 issue of Reader's Digest. The Digest is always on my bedside table.

For those of you who aren't subscribers, you are in luck (ha, ha). Rockwood's article is online and may be read by clicking this link.

In four simple points Rockwood sums up the lucky lifestyle nicely, I believe:

1.) Expect Good Things

This "tilts the scales of serendipity in their favor," she says. If you're thinking "hey, that sounds like the Secret", please don't get turned off yet. I do believe that to a very large extent we are our thoughts. The power of the self-fulfilling prophecy is very real.

2.) Court Chance

Her explication of that point left me a little flat, but I do agree: "The goal is to stay open to possibilities. Or as the old saw goes, "nothing venture, nothing gained."

3.) Look For Silver Linings.

Good advice to be found in these paragraphs. I've never known a lucky "Negative Nellie" or "Pitiful Pearl." The most successful people I have known are those who just keep making lemonade when they are presented with lemons. It seems in my own life that the more I remain positive the more I am rewarded with positive outcomes. It works for me and I recommend this approach to others.

4.) Trust Your Gut

Perhaps this point interested me most. Starting perhaps three years ago I made a determined effort to try to trust my gut more and follow my intuitions better. This has paid great benefits to me (but please bear in my mind when I write this that material wealth is not part of the "good life" in my personal spiritual philosophy.)

How seriously do I take the concept of luck? I can't think about it apart from a conviction that there are principles that can be followed to tap into the good or ignored to the bad.

I understand those who don't want to get all metaphysical about it. That's okay. Rockwood's article isn't so-called woo. But I do like to think about the metaphysical. I tend to want to explore areas outside the box.  

The Strange Fate Of Yuan Shikai

He was, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, a "Chinese army leader and reformist minister in the twilight of the Qing dynasty (until 1911) and then first president of the Republic of China (1912-1916)." Yuan Shikai was more, though. With his defeat of the Nationalist Party (including the murdering of the party chairman) and declaring of a new imperial dynasty, he killed off efforts towards parliamentary democracy in China. As self-proclaimed emperor and president for life he soon found himself facing widespread opposition. He was eventually forced to terminate his dynasty in early 1916. Shortly thereafter he died.

Here is the interesting part. An Australian newspaper article from the October 17, 1914 contained the following:

It will be interesting to see whether the Chinese soothsayer is a true prophet. Yuan Shi Kai is reported as now assuming the title of "Divine Majesty" (Shen Wu), with a view to the imperial purple to follow. Now, when Yuan was Viceroy of Chi Chi his favorite wife persuaded him to consult a famous soothsayer. The prophecy was that Yuan would one day become emperor, and then soon lose his life.

Yuan was so annoyed at this forecast that the prophet prudently withdrew. Then Yuan summoned him back for another little talk. But the soothsayer, fearing to lose his head, was smuggled away by the favorite wife. So Yuan left with the reflection that the paths of glory may lead but to the grave.   

Strange, yes, because it appeared almost two years before Shikai died. He died in an untimely manner of uremia on June 6, 1916. The prophecy fulfilled.

Who this mysterious Chinese soothsayer was I have not yet been able to determine. However, I am keeping this file open as I continue to investigate. I include here a link to the newspaper prophecy.  In this post I will just report and not speculate on the fascinating subjects of prophecy and fate. But is this type of thing not unsettling, to say the least?