How to be Lucky in Life

I fell in love with this anonymous quote that says “you are not a write-off yet until opportunities cease to exist” the very day I stumbled on it. Ever since, I have made it my guiding philosophy in life. Opportunities beckon daily, but whether we are able to recognise them or not is a different ball game altogether. Opportunities are dressed in different robes and they come in different sizes and shapes. The question then is: How prepared are we when they appear?

I have heard many people say that some people are lucky in life. What is luck? Luck simply means opportunities that meet with adequate preparation. Many wander through life without preparing adequately for their opportunities when they come. Nothing happens by accident. Every occurrence in life has its significance. It leaves us with one lesson or the other. Perhaps this why John Maxwell said in his book Failing Forward that there are no mistakes made, only lessons learnt. Do you learn from your daily occurrences? Or do you just see them as just happenstances? Whatever happens to man (positively or negatively) has one lesson or the other for the future.

In 1990, as student in secondary school, I was put on the spot in one of my school’s literary and debating sessions. Without any prior notice, I was picked to debate on the topic “Medical profession is more lucrative than farming”. I accepted the challenge, reluctantly though. I did what I could under the circumstance. Little I did know however that I was only being prepared for tomorrow. As a result of that singular event I became a regular debater for the school till I graduated.

Like what happened to me in 1990, events in my life in the last one month have all pointed to the fact that opportunities beckon everyday. But whether we are adequately prepared to seize the moment or not will determine if we can call ourselves lucky. On Tuesday, 16^th October, 2012, for instance, I was invited by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to speak on the topic “Agricultural Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Youth Empowerment”. The notification was short, but I accepted the invitation nonetheless. I had sleepless nights so as to be able to do justice to the topic. On the day of the presentation I kept on asking myself whether what I had was adequate to meet my audience’s needs. To my big relief, the presentation was received with a resounding ovation. The ovation is not the gist. The kernel of the gist is that the presentation has turned out to be a big blessing for me. Apart from being made a member of the Board of Directors of the NGO, I have received over 10 invitations to speak at different fora in the last two weeks. If I had not seized the moment or I had not been prepared for such an opportunity when it came I could have missed the attendant blessings! Do you still call that luck? If it is luck, then I will want to be lucky over and over again.

Another event which I must not fail to mention happened on Monday, 29^th October, 2012. I received a text message on my phone to appear for an interview at the Senate Building of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Initially, I ignored the message because I had not applied for anything with the university. After a while, something kept urging me to go. I obeyed my instinct and later went for the interview. On getting there I was made to understand that somebody had recommended me as a good master of ceremony. They told me they were considering hiring me as the MC for one of the events lined up for the celebration of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife 50^th Anniversary. I was put on the spot immediately as the panel asked me to do a brief imaginary welcoming of guests to the event. Hardly had I started when the members of the panel started clapping in appreciation of the finesse with which I rendered the opening gambit. It was a glorious moment for me. Another stroke of luck, you may want to say?

What the happenings I have shared so far in this piece have taught me is that for one to be lucky in life, you have to:

1. Discover what you are good at;
2. Consistently work on it until it becomes second nature to you;
3. Always be prepared as opportunities beckon everyday and everywhere.
4. Be your best anytime you are given a chance as you do not know who is watching you.