Do you believe in luck? Do you believe some people are luckier than others?

[Teaching3bears]

On 8/25/2023 at 9:31 PM, Ginevra said:

That’s an unusual viewpoint. I would be happy to hear more about this. 

I have encountered several people in the alternative health/spirituality fields who believe with great certainty that we choose everything before we are born ie.  we choose our parents, our hair color etc.  

[Ginevra]

2 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

I have encountered several people in the alternative health/spirituality fields who believe with great certainty that we choose everything before we are born ie.  we choose our parents, our hair color etc.  

What is the purpose of living out life in such a case? (I never believed in predestination of the Christian viewpoint either, for this very reason. This seems similar.) 

[Drama Llama]

I am really confused by this notion of people choosing before they were born.  

I would consider my middle child to be one of the unluckiest people I have personally known.  Are people saying that he chose to have a devastating life limiting genetic mutation?  That his first parents chose to die in a car accident?  Since those things impacted me greatly, are you saying I chose them too?  

I have lived with enormous guilt because I didn't fight for custody of my son earlier.   But now I'm also responsible for the fact that he lost the genetic lottery?  Or maybe he's responsible for it?  Or maybe his first parents are? 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by BandH
overshared

[Heartstrings]

1 hour ago, BandH said:

I am really confused by this notion of people choosing before they were born.  

I would consider my middle child to be one of the unluckiest people I have personally known.  Are people saying that he chose to have a devastating life limiting genetic mutation?  That his first parents chose to die in a car accident?  Since those things impacted me greatly, are you saying I chose them too?  

I have lived with enormous guilt because I didn't fight for custody of my son earlier.   But now I'm also responsible for the fact that he lost the genetic lottery?  Or maybe he's responsible for it?  Or maybe his first parents are?  

I have questions about how that could all line up.  His parents chose to die young leaving behind an ill child, and he chose to be born to parents that would die while he was a child, and to have an illness, so what's the match process like?  There has to be some sort of generations long matching process that matches the souls that chose to have an ill child with the souls who chose to be born with a life long illness, complicated by having to be matched with a soul like yours, that had to have chosen both to be in proximity to that family and to adopt the child.  That's just a lot of match making of souls going on.  

Interesting idea I suppose.  It's an interesting thought experiment. 

If one of the unborn souls hadn't consented to the situation, would the whole group of souls have been put on pause until a critical component was filled?   

Does this mean some un born souls are planning to be rapists and some are choosing to be rape victims?  That's a really loooong process to go through to circle back to the "she asked for it" argument, if you believe that she literally asked for it, chose it, on purpose, before she was even born.  

Are the unborn souls that chose to have a bad outcome in this life being rewarded for that choice somehow, in an afterlife?  What about those that choose evil? 

[Ting Tang]

We can control a lot of things, even when things beyond ourselves make it more difficult.

 

However, when I was young, I always thought Paris Hilton had relatively good luck, being born into wealth, LOL.  Sure makes some things easier.  

[Teaching3bears]

6 hours ago, Ginevra said:

What is the purpose of living out life in such a case? (I never believed in predestination of the Christian viewpoint either, for this very reason. This seems similar.) 

 I just found it odd that these spiritual people were so certain that they had the answers.  Maybe that gave them more business.  I certainly don’t have the answers.  The older I get o feel that the best path is to try to be as good a person as I can.  Be kind to others and decent and not let other things get in the way of that.  But there are things I will never comprehend like the suffering of children.

[Melissa Louise]

8 hours ago, Ginevra said:

What is the purpose of living out life in such a case? (I never believed in predestination of the Christian viewpoint either, for this very reason. This seems similar.) 

The way I cope with life is by having a non-religious belief that I chose to play this round of the simulation on medium-hard challenge.

For what purpose? To learn, and take the learning back. Where? To whatever exists outside the simulations 🙂 

So, it's a ridiculous coping mechanism, but it provides a lot of psychological relief.

I wouldn't project it onto other people (I wouldn't see other people's hardships as something they have chosen).

[Lady Florida.]

No. I believe luck is how many people view random chance in order to make sense of it. 

[gregzx]

In my view, luck is more like a magnet that's attracted to positivity, preparedness, and perseverance. It's about putting yourself in the right place at the right time but also being ready to seize the opportunities that come your way.

[Rosie_0801]

16 minutes ago, gregzx said:

In my view, luck is more like a magnet that's attracted to positivity, preparedness, and perseverance. It's about putting yourself in the right place at the right time but also being ready to seize the opportunities that come your way.

Please don't bump old threads unless there's a really good reason for it.