Three different strokes

Behind Every Successful man, there are a lot of unsuccessful years!!   – Bob Brown

The clash between the ideologies that whether it’s the hard work or fortune, that leads one to success, is quite old. The entourage is divided into three sections mainly; first are the ones who believe that it’s purely hard work that helps one achieve success and prosperity in life, second are the ones who differ from this ideology completely and believe that it’s all about the fortune one carries in their life which will script their story to success. The third section, to which I include myself in, are the ones who believe that one needs a hint of fortune along with the hard work they do to reach to the pinnacle in their life.

Quite difficult it is to actually reason with either of the lot, since they have their own set of perceptions towards life. They probably speak from their experiences and walks of life. But taking a logical look on the topic, the third section of people seems to have a more realistic point of view (I am not trying to be biased here by anyway). I have always felt and believed that ‘hard work’ & ‘luck’ always go hand in hand…… can explain that with examples.

Consider two individuals from same profession but different lifestyle, one is an architect and other is a mere labor who works at a construction site. The architect slog day and night to come up with designs for different projects and sometimes even face sleepless nights just to get done with the appropriate sample to get the approval and justify his salary. On the other hand, the labor too sweat to the last drop daily so that he and his family can have that dinner at night and the shed, which they call a house, doesn’t go down. The hard work has been done by both, but the lifestyle is clearly on opposite roads. Now, some would say, “it needs smart work and not just hard labor to succeed”. I just want to tell such over rated think caps, that a person who is executing a task from the near end knows far much better than the officer who instructs them according to what they have learnt from the graduation books. It’s not said just for the heck of it that, “knowledge comes from books but experience comes from practice.”  (I don’t know if someone actually has phrased this, so consider it my own innovation!!!).

Let’s take a real life example. I am sure we all know who Bill Gates is!! Still considering that few missed out on knowing him as they were busy doing dishes; Mr. Gates is the founder and owner of the largest software company in the world, Microsoft. Now, how many of you know who Dennis Ritchie is?? Or I must say was, as the genius passed away in 2011??  I am sure more than 80% of you who just read the question have knocked Google’s door for the answer…. well, let me save you the time. Dennis was the person who invented the programming language ‘C’, which is used for the coding of one of the largest and majorly used operating system, Windows. I am sure my point is loud and clear to the readers here by the comparison. Both, Bill Gates and Dennis Ritchie, did hard work in their lifetime, but whereas one is globally known to even a 12-year-old kid (children use computers right!!), the other has lived and died, definitely not under oblivion, but known to only his community and a handful outside may be. Many more such case and supporting points are there, but that’s just going to elongate this blog. The point is, along with the hard work one does, they need that hint of fortune as well to actually succeed in what they do or crave to do.

“People who never make an effort for something, never succeeds… there is nothing called as luck!!” says those who are already at the peak of their life (and quite surely because their fortune favored them, just that they didn’t realized). “If its in our fate none can stop us from achieving it, and if it’s not, nothing can make us achieve it!!” says those who never even try to make an attempt and only sit back and wait for some magic to happen… well good luck to those, keep waiting!! “I am going to keep pushing myself for it, if I get it…. GREAT, and if I don’t, at least I won’t regret for not even trying” says those who believe in themselves and always hope that the next attempt they make, may luck be with them.

It’s not that, since I wrote this, it has to be the final verdict. I am sure there would be many who, after reading this, would like to differ. I can definitely use some ideas from different minds (share your point of view in comment box below), since I understand that such examples, as mentioned above, are there in each and every corner of this world, in each and every field of work, in each and every race of life.