Today we are talking about fortune. But first I must ask, what is fortune?

Fortune as in some kind of prediction? It’s commonly thought of as a prediction.

Fortune is what the world provides you, or lack thereof as in bad fortune.

Or as in a gathering of wealth be it money, friends etc. What people are willing to risk everything for when they go to Las Vegas on their 21st birthday. Something to win or lose.

People are very concerned with fortune aren’t they? Even if the common view is that there is no basis in reality for ideas of fortune.

Fortune could be possible outcomes for the direction you are heading in.

I think in this society we associate fortune with happiness, success. All that and the ability to do whatever we want.

Good thoughts these. Currently, it’s held most commonly that everything that occurs arises from a sort of materialistic cause and effect. Based on that the odds of anyone having causative control or influence of any outcome or event is next to nil. Strange is it not? But do our lives really seem random? If so, then how do we know a good event from a bad one?

Are not all experiences good in terms of the learning from them? And also lessons in discretion? It can be seen that way, yes.

We associate the word fortune with things going well and having the good things in life. We intuit perhaps that there might be some reason why good things happen at all, and there are a lot of explanations for why they do, from gods divine providence, to good karma, to the merits of human science and insight. Good fortune seems to go around doesn’t it? Or at least seems to have the ability to.

People give more when they feel they have good fortune. When the economy is better, for example, people spend more. Yes. But is luck any different than fortune?

Fortune usually implies that we have more influence. We build our fortune whereas luck is usually thought of as outside our control.

I will offer that there is indeed a difference between luck and fortune which is why I see fortune and karma as different. Karma is more like luck. It’s the disposition of your mental and spiritual state that inclines you to make certain choices and to wind up in certain situations. The other Norse word for luck is “wyrd” where we get both the word weird and “word” itself. But fortune is more akin to the Buddhist concept of merit. One can engage in acts that have merit and still have bad luck.

Fortune is more a practice? Well, it’s actually a dynamic, an exchange of energy and attention in the world that crosses many different possible practices.

We choose to be fortunate? Basically, yes. We choose to be fortunate, and we can choose to be fortunate even in circumstances that others might see as unfortunate. There are nations in the Middle East right now that are much happier than more supposedly prosperous nations. Having things can be unfortunate. Unwanted possessions and circumstances can actually be a burden.

Responsibility we don’t want. Exactly.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~