Member-only story
THE NARRATIVE ARC
The Tactics of Lucky People
You can be lucky without believing in luck
I won first place, but I kind of thought I would. My 13-year-old daughter tugged on my arm and pointed out the colouring contest plastered on the movie theatre window. “Look mum, adults can do it, too. Enter with me!”
First prize in the 18–99 age group was a navy blue umbrella with stars on the inside. Gorgeous.
I hadn’t entered a colouring contest since childhood, so I was reluctant. My first win was at age 6, where I received a giant chocolate Easter bunny bigger than my head. I’d used just a handful of crayons and my 6-year-old self thought that was funny. Who’d have thought you could win with a couple of crayons?
Now, standing with my daughter, I browsed the entries taped by their corners to the glass and saw a few other adults had entered. “Okay,” I told her. “I’ll win us an umbrella.”
When the phone call came and we’d both won our categories, we were delighted, but not overly surprised. I tend to be quite lucky, have a lot of successes in life, and win a lot of contests. Too many to count since that first contest at age 6 — and now my kids do, too. The thing is, I don’t actually believe in luck. Turns out, you don’t have to.
