Get Rich Slowly on Luck

An articulate essay on luck, referencing a couple sources.  I found it interesting and accurate:
How to Make Your Own Luck

Sideways

Everyone has experiences that go sideways.  You think one thing is going to occur, but what actually happens is nowhere near what you expect.

“Going sideways” isn’t the same as “going wrong.”  What happens is too unusual to you to fit within your framework of good and bad.

Most people get very uncomfortable when things get sideways.  You are challenged to react in a completely new way, because whatever happens is far outside your patterns.  Reacting in new ways changes who you are.

If you can seize a sideways moment and exploit its opportunity, you have the potential to win even when you lose.

Mindfulness

As the cliche goes, into everyone’s life a little rain must fall. Trite as it may be, we repeat the saying for its truth.

The question, however, is what we choose to do when the rain starts to fall. In my estimation, attempting to control your reaction is exceptionally difficult. However, recognizing your reaction for what it is - an emotional response to your situation - gives you the opportunity to take a step back and breathe.

Once you’ve taken that step back, you have the opportunity to accept your reaction with compassion for yourself while also recognizing that you are not your reaction. You do not have to be limited by your first emotional response to a situation.

I’m not advocating that you abandon emotion. What I am advocating is that you don’t allow a knee-jerk reaction to make your decisions for you. With mindfulness comes power.