Luck's Not Something You Can Wish For

This week, we played raffle at work for United Way. These are some of the 19 goodies, of which I won none. Nor did I think I would have won anyways:
- Sheraton Niagara Falls (one night stay & breakfast)
- Two plane tickets any where in North America (including US, Canada, Caribbean & Bermuda)
- Corporate vacation giveaway: two paid days off
-Tiffany decanter and glasses set ... ...

I don't believe in this kind of accidental luck. That's why I never bought lottery ticket on my own. I do it from time to time with my team members at work just in case the luck come their way. If they all quit with their big win, I would be left alone. That would be no fun, right?

A few years ago when I worked with another company, I went for a similar raffle because everybody was doing it and it was for a good cause like this one. I thought my deed was done when I paid for the tickets. The tickets were sitting in my purse for a couple of months. I sorted my purse and forgot what the tickets were for. What stuck me was one of the numbers had a lot of 3s and 8s. I threw it inside a drawer.

One day, I was browsing the company's intranet and came across the winning number of the raffle. The number had a lot of 3s and 8s. Familiar? Oh, the number I had bought was for this raffle and similar to this one -- that's as much as I could relate to.

I went home and forgot all about it. A few days later, I saw the number again on the intranet, with a notice urging for the winner to claim the price. Now I felt a check with my number at the corner of my drawer was necessary. This time, I did remember to bring the number with me to the office. Sure I had that sole winning number.

When I went to claim my $780 prize, the HR people asked if I was on vacation or something. The announcement had been on for over 2 months. Nobody claimed the prize. They were about to give it away to the charity.

We happened to be planning a trip to DC. I bought myself a couple of more items out of my win. It was nice. But it didn't make me believe more in my luck. Luck takes its own pace. I just never count on it.