If Only

"If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" is a line from an old song by Ray Charles that has been rattling around the frontal lobes for a couple of days.

I have often pondered the suggestion that one makes one's own luck but how can that be true. If it were, every person who purchases a Lottery ticket would win. After all how can you win it if you're not in it ?

By the same token if someone works their socks off and builds a business, only to find it crumble due to the credit crunch or dwindling economy are they unlucky or just another victim of an unhealthy financial climate.

The reason behind this post is that I recently spotted an old mate of mine on Facebook. If he's reading this he will recognise himself immediately

His pic showed him having an exceedingly jolly time with an absolutely stunning blond, he looked fit, well and assumedly not too concerned about the current downturn.

He no longer lives in the UK but over the years I spent quite a lot of time with him and at one time we were briefly in business together. However, if old Ray had nothin' but bad luck, this guy would survive a minefield whilst on roller skates for the very first time.

About 15 years ago his then business was going through a cash flow crisis. During this monetary hiccup he was invited to Ascot races on a corporate "knees-up". One accumulator bet later and he left Royal Berkshire £30,000 better off. Crisis over!

On another occasion he was entertaining clients and the evening concluded at a London casino. He'd had a bad time at the tables and was about £500 worse off, he had one £100 chip left and on his way to cash-in he passed the roulette table. Rather than cut his losses he tossed the chip on 36. No surprises for guessing he went home £3000 in pocket.

All that pales in significance compared to his greatest coup. He created a business in the early days of the internet. The general populace was still not on board with the whole www revolution but nevertheless the money men were keen to get behind the new technologies. He floated the business on the stock market but hated the strictures of being a CEO of a public company. After a boardroom shakeup he sold the majority of his shares for £25,000,000 plus. KERCHING!! Ironically, the business never made a profit. His successor was later disgraced for his poor performance and the whole business was sold off for a fraction of what my mate sold his shares for.

Good businessman or lucky son of a bitch, I'll leave you to make your own mind up.

As far as I'm concerned good luck to him (pun intended) and whilst I would love some of it to have rubbed off on me, I look at my children, my friends, my home and the fact I'm still alive and kicking and realise just how lucky I am too. Nevertheless, if those pesky six numbers ever come up, if I manage to win an international poker tourney or my next business venture takes off like a rocket you can be sure that I will credit it all to massive amounts of.................skill.