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Luck is all in your mind
The ancient Stoics wrote quite a bit about luck, or Fortuna (from the name of the goddess that personified it), particularly Seneca. To begin with, we should not trust luck:
“No man has ever been so far advanced by Fortune that she did not threaten him as greatly as she had previously indulged him. Do not trust her seeming calm; in a moment the sea is moved to its depths. The very day the ships have made a brave show in the games, they are engulfed.” (Letters IV.7)
You may feel lucky because things have been going well for you for some time, but that’s the thing about luck: she can turn on you in a moment. So what’s the Stoic attitude toward Fortuna? To make ourselves immune from her, by caring only about the things she does not control (and we do):
“Fortune has no jurisdiction over character.” (Letters XXXVI.6)
Meaning that to work on becoming better persons is up to us, and is done through the continuous practice of the four cardinal virtues of practical wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. Even the most unlucky person in the world can still do that, and the most lucky ones ought to…
