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Good luck, bad luck, no luck... it's such an odd concept. When I bother to tell anyone my entire life story, they always respond the same way: "Wow, you've had more than your share of bad luck!" And, I suppose, they're right if we use the traditional definitions. However, I prefer to think of it as having been presented with (and overcome) thirty-four years of challenges.

We hear a lot of stories that begin with "It all started when..." In my case, it all started when I was born. Or, more accurately, when I was conceived. My mother was seventeen years old and living a fairly dangerous lifestyle involving drugs and violence, when she became pregnant. For whatever reason, she didn't realize she was pregnant until she started having contractions, which turned out to be a false alarm. At that point, she began making plans to put her child up for adoption. A short while later, I arrived, kicking and screaming and very likely cursing the world. And that sweet, misguided, hopelessly confused girl of seventeen decided she couldn't go through with it and would take a chance on raising me herself. It didn't last long, and she ended up turning custody of me over to her mother, which was an excellent choice, even if it did cause confusion later. ("Wait, your mother is your sister and your brother is your uncle? What?") My (new) mother already had six children of her own, and husband who had walked out on her.

Already a string of bad luck, and not even two years old yet! I won't go into all of the rest, except to say that my life followed the pattern established early on: bad things happened to me that weren't my fault, and they happened on a very regular basis.

But how random is it, really? Many people, given the luck I've had, would have given up, turned to drugs or alcohol, possibly even violence. I managed to avoid that, thanks to the position my early luck put me in of having a wonderful, supportive family when I was growing up. I'm also "lucky" enough to have a high I.Q., an analytical mind, artistic tendencies, and an interest in just about everything. I have to think that balances things out a little bit. I also have a very rare gift (curse?) for being the sort of person people will tell anything to, even when they've only just met me. Add in the simple truth that there's virtually no circumstance or situation I haven't experienced to some degree and can relate to, and it leads me to a career in psychology. Or advice columns.

It's not so much that I think everything has a reason. I don't think it's all leading to one major point or helping me become what I'm "meant to be." But I do think that good luck and bad luck are nothing more than life balancing itself out.

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