Serendipity – An Essay on Luck

This is a strange subject that I am writing about, because hardly anyone expects events to occur by mere chance. Perhaps you may say I did not plan to fail, so how could this have possibly happened. I am writing from an A.A. perspective. As stated by my therapist during treatment, ‘’if you thoroughly work the steps, I can guarantee your full recovery.” Notwithstanding, may I suggest to you, my A.A. friend that life does happen. A.A. cannot make us immune from all of life’s problems.

What A.A. does is to give us a sense of direction. We can still deal with the world even though things are falling apart all around us. I have found that many people do rely on chance to get sober. Of course, if you are going to stay sober, it requires a lot of work. I would like to point out, for example, just how life happens. Many people rely on luck or fate in order to stay sober, of course no one stays sober solely by accident.

I would like to point out by a few examples just how life happens; the first example is based on a hypothetical combat situation. A soldier is on patrol during the war, unfortunately he steps on a land mine. In light of this, I believe experience does play a part in determining any outcome. However, when you are prepared, the events of your life seemingly fall into place. How many people when faced with adversity somehow get the help they need from unknown sources? People usually get favor from a positive outlook.

The other example that coincides to this particular subject that has to do with joy is the writer Saint Augustine who states in his book The City of God, “good fortune always accompanies felicity.” While this fact is true about felicity, it does not address the fact that the time period was different then as opposed to now. In ancient times many people were very superstitious and progress was very slow. These facts are brought out in the Big Book. A.A. has been the biggest influence in my life, but I would like to add that I don’t believe in Harry Potter A.A., if you don’t seek it you will not find it.

By: Charles F.