Unlucky

Unlucky

“I would rather be lucky than good!” This is fine to hear from a janitor, but less so from a neurosurgeon. Some would say “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” This, again something most surgeons should try to omit from their lexicon. Luck is that feeling that something completely by chance, made our day better (or much worse). For the purpose of test-taking in grade school, I had both a four-leaf clover and a lucky penny taped to my desk. I would’ve had a rabbit’s foot too, but rabbits are fast and I was slow. In high school, I had a lucky eraser with a T on one side and an F on the other. Tossing that eraser helped me through many true and false quizzes. Even today I have lucky socks that I have worn for every flight test I have ever done. I would wash them, but I don’t want any luck washed out.

But I still feel unlucky. Like have you ever stepped on a Lego in the dark with one foot, stubbed your toe with the other foot, and spilled the coffee you were carrying? This accurately describes my every morning in the Martin household.

It is not because of my perpetual sore feet and burnt skin that I feel unlucky, no, it’s much more than that. It is because I don’t believe in luck. Luck is a fairytale and must be further examined to see clearly. Like if you told me you saw “Santa riding a unicorn in Narnia” I would have to examine that claim further. Upon further investigation, I would discover that what you really saw was a janitor riding a donkey while holding a mop, in Detroit.

Lately, I have been thinking about all the lucky things that have happened in my life to prepare me as a pilot/mechanic. Like how lucky I was to have a mechanic dad with a hard-driven semi-truck that needed to be repaired. Or how another local mechanic encouraged me to do a complicated repair on my car. Or how I grew up with a seasoned missionary mechanic right in my home church. Or how my in-laws served in Haiti and have a heart for Kingdom work both here and abroad. Or how lucky I was to receive high levels of training from both MMS Aviation and MAG.

All of these things could be called luck, but I don’t believe in luck. My life has been crafted much like a mouse trap, with every single part required. Looking back and seeing all the lucky things that have prepared us to take the next steps has made me realize something. Luck had nothing to do with it.

However, I’m still planning on wearing my lucky socks for all future tests… it couldn’t hurt.