So many of us are convinced that our fate lays in the stars. That by some random chance, our lives are a series of coincidental outcomes that we really have no control over. We are merely observers in a life that is run by some other force, and we should be happy and content with what we are dealt because it could be much worse. I often hear people say “if I didn’t have bad luck, I would have no luck at all.”

If you are down on your luck, then that is not a reason to give up trying. It merely means you must try something new. We all know that by doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity, then why blame lousy luck when something doesn’t go the way we expected? Try harder! Try smarter! Try anything different! Your luck will never change if you don’t.

I have never been much of a gambling man. Opting to always play it safe, I instead mitigated my chance of failure by not trying. I believed that the house always won, so I never took a gamble in my life; I gave up the control to move forward in my life for safety. But by playing it safe, I never experienced the bitter taste of failure or the sweet taste of success. Going through the motions of life, I slowly but surely allowed the luck of life control my happiness. And yes, the house always won.

We can live by playing the slot machine of life by hopelessly pulling down the handle and hope that one of these times life will pay out. This comes at a cost, the cost of our happiness. Each time you feed the slot machine of life a quarter, you are giving up a little piece of your happiness for a random shot at finding the happiness jackpot. We all know that this doesn’t work in a casino, so why would it work for our lives?

Why not put some of the control back into your hands?

By playing a black-jack table, you can put some of the luck back under your control. With each card you choose, you can dare to take a little more risk or back away when you know the odds are stacked against you. When we feel good about our odds, we can go all in. And while the outcome may still be a little on the side of luck, our chances of becoming much happier are in our favour because we have chosen to take that chance. We don’t allow the complete house control over our happiness.

Make your own luck, play the field, and take back control over the happiness in your life. Don’t let the house of life dictate when and where you will be happy. By taking a chance, you can push your comfort zone and grow even if the outcome is not in your favour. In most cases, by making your own luck, you will always win; even if you lose.

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This blog post is part of a series of 26 that focuses on finding your inner happiness. Please check out the rest of the series here: The ABC’s of a Happy Life