Sunday, November 22, 2009

Destiny...Luck....or just Hard work?

This past weekend I went to pick up some food from a nearby restaurant. As I was about to leave, the manager insisted that a waiter help me take the food out to my car. He gave the bags to a young man, about 20 years old, who accompanied me. It was a couple of minutes walk to my car.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"Arthik, from Bangalore," he replied.
"How long have you been here?"
"About a year. I work here part-time to help with my tuition," he said. "I am doing my Masters."
"Masters?" I asked. "In what?"
"Computer sciences," he replied. By that time we had reached my car. "By the way sir, you have a very nice car," he continued, as he looked longingly at the vehicle.
I looked at him and smiled. "You'll have a better car than this in a few years, It's just a matter of time," I said.
"I will sir, if I'm lucky and if it's in my destiny," he replied.
"You keep on working hard, Arthik and you'll be amazed at how lucky you get," I said.

That conversation has lingered with me for the last few days. I hope this young, hard-working man achieves everything he dreams of. We all know the relationship between hard work and success. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. I haven't heard of anybody drowning in their own sweat. Hard work does spotlight character when it shows up in front of people-- some will turn up their sleeves, some will turn up their noses and some will not turn up at all.

Do you all believe in destiny? I do, but only to a certain extent. I think everything does happen for a reason. Sometimes we don't understand the reason, because only God is privy to the master plan. And what about being lucky? As Thomas Jefferson once said, "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it!" Luck has a very strange habit of favoring those who don't depend on it.

"God gave us two ends-- one to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use. Heads you win, tails you lose!"


P.S.- Here's wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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