by Belinda Long

Created on: October 10, 2009

Life isn't merely a game of luck. While luck certainly plays a part in it, skill, reason, logic and character also play big roles in the direction any one persons life heads. Our luck can always change, but we have to live with our choices forever. Poor choices have a history of snowballing. Just as many times a lie will inevitably force you to tell another one, poor choices often leave you with less choices. It is how so many people fall into debt they can no longer control and habits they cannot break.

However, choices are not the sole reason for some people being unable to "catch a break". It is also about how you respond to the situations as they happen. There is a huge difference between being reactive and being proactive. Being reactive says you react to the situation, but may not be changing anything. Perhaps you have found you cannot financially handle all the credit cards you have. When you get the balance statement every month, you may scoff at the bill and say you won't use these cards anymore. And yet, next month, those cards are still in your wallet, and in fact in many cases, getting used again. If you were proactive, you might set up a payment plan with the credit card company, then cut the cards up and dispose of them until you are in a better financial situation. Your reaction to this situation then blends in with your choices. If you choose to continue to indulge yourself, you will soon be in debt you cannot control.

So how does luck have anything to do with anything? It's simple! If you are reacting pro-actively and making good choices, bad luck is much less likely to send you spiraling into a perpetual state of struggle. If you have made good financial decisions in the past, it is likely you have not had to beg, borrow and steal to pay the rent. Or that if you have had to borrow on occasion, your credit is considered good and your debts are paid. If this is the case, you could easily get a loan from a financial institution, friend or family member when the roof springs a leak in the middle of the rainy season. If, on the other hand, you have worn out your welcome due to your own poor choices, and you have debt up to your ears, this bad luck will surely set you back quite a bit.

Certainly there are some people in the world who seem to make all the wrong choices, and somehow manage to have luck on their side. But we must remember that luck always runs out. Those choices being made will eventually come to call on that person and when they do, that person will find himself right beside every other person making poor choices. Life is more about skill, choices and character than it is about luck. Luck is just a character test.

In this article, I have used finances to demonstrate a point, but it is easy to see where this can apply to any area of your life. For example: Socially, if you treat other well, you are likely to be treated well in return. When you run into a bad person, you have an army of good ones behind you, supporting you. On the other hand, if you treat people badly, when you need them, they won't be there. Luck really plays a very small role in what happens to us.

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