When Napoleon Bonaparte lost one of his generals in battles, he summoned his officers to find a replacement. After a couple of weeks, Napoleon was presented a man with sound military knowledge, strong leadership, and the courage needed for battle.
Napoleon responded, "That's all very good, but is he lucky?"
Beneath all the controllables, all the skills and traits, and all the military acumen, Napoleon believed in the hidden force of luck and fate. In battles of life and death, he wanted generals by his side who were lucky.
It's a hidden element of life that plays a bigger part in our lives than we like to admit. Some will say you create your own luck. There's some truth to that. But on the other hand, there is luck that you had nothing to do with and it determines a vast majority of your life.
Neil Armstrong was one of those lucky men. As a fighter pilot during World War II, working as a research pilot following the war, and then during his work at NASA, he came to the edge of death on countless occasions.
During his seventh combat mission, Neil flew an armed reconnaissance set to take out freight trains and bridges in North Korea. During his run, a cable--a North Korean booby trap--sliced six feet off of Nei's right wing. Neil was forced to eject from the plane, and floated inland, landing on a rice paddy. If he stayed on course a little longer, he would've landed in a North Korean minefield, ending his life.
While on a naval cruise ship, his plane was hit by an incoming fighter plane that lost control. It was one of the only days he was in the ready room serving on squadron duty. If Neil had been flying that day, he would've been on his plane. Another close call.
His first mission with NASA, Gemini XIII, almost ended in disaster. After detaching from the Agena, their spacecraft started to tumble in circles. Unaware of what the issue was, Neil ignited the re-entry control system, which helped stabilize the aircraft, but ended their mission then and there due to NASA protocols. If he hadn't started the re-entry control system, which was considered a problematic choice at the time, Neil Armstrong never would have made it back to earth.
Leading up to the moon landing, Neil was practicing in the lunar landing research vehicle, a machine that replicated the g-force in the lunar atmosphere. Months before Apollo 11, the vehicle lost control with Neil in it, plummeting straight for the ground. With just fifty feet remaining, Neil ejected, coming within seconds of losing his life.
Napoleon wanted someone like Neil to be his commander. Neil prepared and put his hours in, but there was fate and luck on his side time and time again.
Luck is weird. It plays a bigger part in your life than you'd like and it's dismissed too often or not accounted for enough of the outcome in your life because it gives a feeling of limiting one's agency.
Think about where you were born. The greatest form of luck is the situation in which you were brought into this world. If you have the freedom to chase a dream or certain human rights, luck is on your side. People born into first-world countries are luckier than those in third-world countries with less resources, opportunities, and freedoms. And it is all a roll of the dice. All luck. You had no control over it at all.
The opportunities you have and the successes that ensue, at the root of it all, are heavily influenced by luck. The situation you were born into. Who your parents are. The society and culture you live in. Your sex, even your gender. All these things, which are 100% out of your control, play a major role in the destiny of your life.
It doesn't mean you don't have agency over your life and can't create better conditions, but it does mean that there are other, hidden forces, playing a significant part in your life. And the truth is, some are luckier than others. You are luckier than some. Others are luckier than you.
There's not much you can do about the energies and forces of fate. Just control the controllables, but be aware of how much luck does play a role, no matter how much others will tell you it doesn't, in the unraveling of your life.
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You can check out the podcast on Neil Armstrong for a deeper dive into his life and greatness.
You can check out other episodes of the Greatness Podcast, where I dive into the lives and stories of the world's greatest individuals.
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