Yes, there are times that "gifts" simply fall into your lap. However, usually "luck" is a windfall from careful planning or persistance. Here's an example: When I was in college, I was as poor as most students. In wasting some time on the internet between classes one day, I stumbled upon a website that offered a sweepstakes to pay your rent for one month. It was a website for apartment-hunting (no, I don't remember the name, so please don't contact me asking me what it was), but they offered an opportunity to enter daily to have your rent paid. There was a monthly drawing with one winner each month. Guess what I did? I entered every day. Every single day. It took about 30 seconds of my time and since I was a student, I was on the computer at least once a day anyway, so it was no real struggle for me. I entered every day for 3 years (the first year I was living in the dorm with rent paid via scholarship). Guess what? I won. Twice. Two wins over 1068 days of entries doesn't seem too lucky (I have no idea how many people entered this thing), but on those two days I was notified, I felt like the luckiest person on earth. And my roommates loved me for it too! =) It's often all relative.