Though I have repeatedly told my kids that there is no such thing as luck, my youngest daughter will still occasionally either make or give me something to take with me “for luck.”
The current item, which I have carried with me now for two winters, is a buckeye. I used to wear a bead bracelet she made me, but it frequently got in my way while working.
I bring this up so I can tell you the following story:
A couple of years ago I went on a float trip with some of the men in our church. While I am not a strong swimmer [read: I am desperately hydrophobic], I still enjoy boating on bodies of water I can see the bottom of.
I was in a canoe with Tim, an ex-Marine (though some contend there is no such thing as an “ex” Marine). The pastor and Forrest were in another canoe, and Bruce and his son Travis were in a third canoe.
This is the way I remember what happened: the Pastor fired an opening salvo, saying something about how they were in the lead because they were the Navy, and how we were trailing because we were the Marines. So Tim and I kicked in the afterburners and blew past the S.S. Pastor.
While we were still speeding ahead, we came to a partially submerged stump, almost in the exact center of the river. I was in the bow, and I had to make a snap decision: left or right. I chose left, the opposite of right. You know what else is the opposite of right?
We were slightly right of the stump when I guided us left, and then I found that the heretofore lazy river was moving quite swiftly at this point. I found it out because the current pushed the canoe immediately sideways, and I was thrown immediately overboard.
I have already mentioned that I am not a strong swimmer. It was a blazing hot day, and, like an idiot, I wasn’t wearing my lifejacket.
I managed to control my phobia keep my presence of mind and swim upwards with my hands above my head to keep me from banging it on the bottom of the canoe, which I then climbed into.
So, in the end, wasn’t it a lucky bracelet?
No. No, it wasn’t.
There is no such thing as luck.
But I still keep the bracelet.
Comments are closed.