What do you depend on, luck, skill or a combination of the two?

Some people seem to be dripping with luck. They could be prize winners, those fortunate few who always seem to be taking home turkeys and hams. Perhaps you know someone who seems to win at baseball or hockey, often at the last minute by some fortunate turn of events. 

Luck appears to play a significant part for the sport contest winners and what's more, they seem to be lucky for a lifetime. 

But is it all luck? 

You can't call a Wayne Gretzky or a Bobby Orr lucky, their special blends of heart and talent can only be called luck if you consider that their inherited genetic combinations came together just right and they had the good fortune to be the select of their generation. They might have quite ordinary brothers and sisters.

No, inheritance luck is not the topic here, the Orrs and Gretzky’s of this world, once born, make their own luck 

How about someone who always seems to be lucky at fishing or hunting? 

I grew up with a friend like that, but I wouldn't call it luck. With my friend it was more like he developed his skills to their fullest by trying extra hard. He always seemed to get more game than anyone else, he would bring home more fish and he could outshoot everyone on the target range, in the field, bush or marsh. Some of our friends used to rave about his luck but I watched closely over the years and it wasn't just luck, it was more than that. 

This guy was a born walker and travelling across rough terrain just didn't seem to make him tired. This helped his hunting and fishing success because he would cover three or four times more stream or countryside than anyone else. Like buying extra lottery tickets, he had more chances to find fish or game. He concentrated very hard at achieving his goals and didn't let anything distract him either, a good lesson for the rest of us. 

It was pretty challenging growing up with a guy like that. Once we had a shooting contest and the object was to hit the little barbed knots of wire on an old fence with our .22 rifles. The bullets didn't hurt the wire, just made it twang a bit. I thought I could win until my friend said it was too easy and demonstrated consistent hits on the wire itself, something I could barely see in my sights. Later I found out he shot thousands of practice rounds, just for fun. 

It was necessary in order to keep our youthful friendship alive that neither of us surpassed the other by too wide a margin and the rivalry was at least half the fun. If anything the competition kept us constantly plotting strategy and thinking about ways to improve our success rate, all of which made us just a little more lucky than our more relaxed friends who went out with a more relaxed attitude.

Maybe some people try a little harder, prepare themselves a little more and concentrate totally on what they're trying to do. If that makes luck then I guess there is hope for all of us but I do not think it will help us win a million dollar lottery prize.