Do you believe in luck?

If you do, then you probably also still believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and magic spells….

A long time ago, back when I was young and vibrant, I served with the military. The military is the ultimate place when it comes to rumors. Part of the reason for this is the fact that for the majority of the time enlisted men are treated like mushrooms: Kept in the dark and fed on crap.

One particular day a favorable rumor started in regards to a deployment to Kenya, Africa, but only for a handful of our guys. Of course, the rumor stated that only the most senior guys would be considered and all others should just forget about it…

That didn’t sit well with me as I really wanted this deployment and visit a place I might never get a chance to go to again – and get paid for doing it.

I didn’t even mention my interest to my mates. Most of them would have enjoyed going every bit as much as I would, but they had already stated they didn’t stand a chance and resigned themselves to failure before even trying: I loved that!!

The problem with the military is, it thinks of itself as some sort of dictatorship and everyone should follow the rules. I’m in favor of the system in war time because second guessing orders gets men killed, more often than not.

 But during peace time, I believe the rules should be approached a tad more open minded…

Plus telling me not to do something is pretty much a freaking guarantee that I’ll do it. That’s what got me into the Commandos in the first place. Even my own Father didn’t think I could make it. Everyone said you’re crazy, they’ll beat the crap out of you and fail you, and then what’ll you do?

As if the risk of not making it should be enough to deter one from even trying? WTH?

A plan started to form in my mind: A plan of audacity, rule bending and just a hint of rebelling against the system. But one must be careful. The military doesn’t take kindly to individual free thinking souls – unless they come with a smile and truck loads of charm and persistence. Of which I am amply blessed when my mind is set to achieve something.

My war of persistence began in a very low key and unassuming manner. The day after the rumor began, I showed up at the Sergeants’ office and off handedly remarked that if there were to be a trip to Kenya, I would be willing to deploy, even on short notice.

Did you notice how I twisted it around a bit? Now the trip didn’t sound so much like the glory trip it might have seemed initially. I was actually doing him a favor by letting him know that no matter what happened, I was his go-to-guy if things looked dicey for putting boots on the ground.

It didn’t work – exactly, “Vaughan, you’re a wanker. And that little line making the whole thing sound like you’re helping me out here, that’s ballsy…”

OK. I know. Not the most auspicious of beginnings, but here’s where lesser men would have tucked tail and walked away. I was just getting started.

So for the next two weeks here is how it went for my poor sergeant:

Every morning, after every lunch, last thing in the afternoon, I would “show up” and see what was going on at the office. After a few days of my becoming a regular at his office, he began to relent. I knew I was winning the first time he said he’d put me on the standby list, if anyone couldn’t go due to injury, sickness or whatever, I would be top of the back-up list.

Believe me, that was a victory. The war wasn’t won yet, but I’d certainly let the enemy know he was in for a tough uphill battle. Time to up the ante…

Now I started making tea runs for him, whether he needed a cuppa or not. Or runs to the Naffy, (the on base military shop selling T-shirts, coke, candy bars and other assorted merchandise the boys might need).

I let folks think I was in real trouble and having to do some running around to make it all OK again with the sergeant. Of course eventually he’d had enough, more than enough. He saw me coming and I could see the color drain from his face.

I always smiled, I always managed to make him laugh, but I was also driving him crazy. After two weeks he’d reached his limit.

“Vaughan, if you don’t quit bugging me the only place you’ll be getting deployed to is Arbroath!”  Arbroath is a town in Scotland where no one wants to be, not even the Scots who live there… Everything was on the line now. Should I continue or accept defeat?

I rolled the dice. “But, sergeant, this would stop today if you’d give me a shot and put me on that deployment. Do you know how much paperwork is going to be involved with actually re-assigning me to 45 Commando? Sending me to a whole new unit? (Believe me it’s worth mentioning that if there’s one thing warriors hate, its paperwork – and this guy was a soldiers, soldier). I hit a nerve.

What I was saying in not so many words was, this will not stop. I will do this until you re-assign me to another unit, or put me on the list for Kenya. And I said it without actually saying it. I would never overtly threaten a senior rank, especially not his guy, I liked him!

I saw the doubt in his eyes. It was time to seal the deal.

“I’ll not bother you with anything again, ever, if you’ll do me a solid and put me on the list.”

“FINE! Now leave me the hell alone…” He tried to sound angry, but he was already chuckling as he began walking away.  He added this as he left,

“If anyone else had worked as hard as you for this I’d have hung myself a week ago… Hell, if the whole Commando Brigade was as stubborn as you I could rule the freaking world…..” I believed him.

Three weeks later the personnel list for Kenya was posted, and would you Christmas Eve it, my name was on the list. Guess what I heard for the next few weeks,

“Vaughan’s so freaking lucky. How the hell did he get on the list?”

“Some blokes have all the luck. It’s just not fair.”

Typically these sorts of comments came from those that had quit trying before it ever began.

Success of any sort isn’t about luck. Luck is something that happens to us. But this line of reasoning means you are at the whim of chance. Something, or someone, has the power to rule your life.

It also means that when bad things happen, when “bad luck” strikes, your mindset is all wrong. You take on the attitude that of course something bad has happened, you knew your luck couldn’t last forever. Right?

Horsepucky!

If you don’t believe in luck, then whatever happens isn’t about the wind changing and your good/bad fortune suddenly slapping you in the face. It’s just what happens. Life happens. There is no good or bad, there are just things.

How you choose to look at them is all a mindset. Saying, “it’s just bad luck” gives the power for your life over to an age old superstition.

If you are stuck on the side of a mountain, lost after a long hike and it suddenly starts to rain, guess what? Mother Nature isn’t kicking sand in your face. She’s just doing what she does, watering the plants. You just happen to be standing in the garden when she does.

When you succeed at something and everyone around you is saying, oh you’re so lucky, nothing like that ever happens to me… Guess what? It wasn’t luck, it was work. It was putting yourself out there and taking calculated chances. It was at least having the balls to try. - follow this link to find out more about creating your own luck.

You won’t always get the outcome you desire. So what? You’ll still have more than you did before embarking on the journey, even if it’s more experience…

The biggest regrets you’ll ever have in life will be the ones where you didn’t even get in the game in the first place. You didn’t even try.

Life is not a spectator sport.

And it won’t play out the way you want it to if you don’t at least start taking charge of its direction. TAKE ACTION!

Stop using “Bad luck” as an excuse for why you didn’t even try! Make your own luck by working hard and being in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons, and watch what happens.

The situation I mentioned earlier about being stuck on the side of a mountain when the rain begins, well I’m betting half of you said, “What the hell would I be doing on the side of a mountain?”

I have news for you. You’re already on the side of a mountain. That’s where life is played out. Those that succeed and make the biggest contribution to their own happiness are the ones that can say, “Well, I won’t be thirsty tonight” the second it starts to pour.

They didn’t start saying things like, “Isn’t this typical. My bad luck just keeps getting worse and now here comes the rain”…. It might not be what you asked for. It might be a different result than the one you were trying for.

But at least you are trying!

Keep trying and it’s only a matter of time before your luck changes! Hahaha!!

Cheers, Terry