By Oweyegha-Afunaduula
A dictionary definition of the word luck is “success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. Chip Denman identifies four uses of the word luck, namely: luck as superstition; retrospective luck, luck as seizing future opportunity and separating skill from luck as contributors to success. Chip Denman then gives a short definition of luck as “when the outcome of a chance event is favorable to the individual under consideration”.
There can be good luck and bad luck. Hard luck is often ironically or sarcastically, to express sympathy or commiserations. However, Neil Levy (2024) in his article “Explainer: Does Luck Exist” published in The Conversation of 7 July 2012 says that “No-one has luck. We can’t truly say of someone they’re lucky, meaning they are the kind of person to whom lucky things can be expected to happen” He is also the author of Hard Luck: How Luck Undermines Free Will and Moral Responsibility. He adds, “Roughly, the more often something happens to someone, the less luck is involved. Of course, someone can be lucky or unlucky twice: lightning can strike twice. But the person who is lucky twice, or more, is not a lucky person: their past luck doesn’t give us any reason to expect luck in their future”.
In many religious traditions, the concept of luck is often viewed as a matter of divine providence or fate, rather than random chance, with the belief that God or a higher power is ultimately in control of events, and that good or bad outcomes are part of a larger divine plan.
From an earthly perspective, things may seem to happen at random, but throughout the whole of Scripture, it is clear that God is in control of all of His creation and is somehow able to take the random acts of natural law, the free will of both good and evil men, and the wicked intent of demons and combine them all to accomplish His good and perfect will (Genesis, 50:20). Christians, specifically, are given the promise that God works all things, whether seemingly good or bad, together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). As a Christian, I believe everything good or bad is mediated by the Supreme God, God Almighty, whom Africa knew before others elsewhere knew Him.Africans had their own sophisticated religious traditions and beliefs, including concepts of a high god or force, before the arrival of colonialists and the introduction of Abrahamic religions. The high God was in the life of every African reigning good or bad luck.
The divine, often associated with a deity or a higher power, is considered spiritual, sacred, and transcendent, while the non-divine encompasses the physical, material, and mundane aspects of reality.
In this article, I view “luck” as a random occurrence, not something controlled by a divine being even I believe that higher power is in charge of our life’s trajectories. A “life trajectory” refers to the overall path or course a person’s life takes, encompassing significant events, experiences, and transitions over time. Kristin Weaver (2024) wrote that it is possible for one to change one’s life’s trajectory. You can ask What Life Trajectory am I on and change it to start living a life of purpose (Deharty, 2018; Young, 2024).Ryan Freeman (2024) has told us exactly how we can control the trajectory of our lives from the past, to a upward trajectory, to a stagnant trajectory to a down ward trajectory. Ryan Freeman says, “We have control of our lives and the trajectory we are on. If we want a certain type of life we have to make it happen. We all have the power to change our path by setting the right objectives, a plan that will build the right skill sets, and by believing that we can improve. We can create the life we want for ourselves, but it all starts by having the right trajectory”. In this case we have the free will to change our trajectories, and God and luck, therefore, may not be integral to our trajectories. However, as Neil Levy (2011) said, luck undermines free will and moral responsibility for our lives or life trajectories.
I decided to write this article after a discussion with an OB of Busoga College Mwiri who thought that many OBs of the ancient school found themselves in the different stations of life they found themselves in because of luck. He said Justice Dr Egonda Ntende did not have the luck to become the Chief Justice of Uganda because he lacked good luck although he had all the credentials to serve in that capacity. He was responding to my article “The Judge I valued Highly”. He gave along list of OBs that he thought became what they did because of luck, including: former Chief Justice Waako Wambuzi, Apollo Milton Obote, Wanume Kibedi, Dr James Rwanyarare, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Prof. Lutalo- Bossa, Prof. W.G. Kanyeihamba, Prof, Barnabas Nawangwe, Lt Colonel Lukakamwa, Lt Colonel Obitre Gama, and many others.
After researching the topic of luck, I thought that free will is stronger than luck in determining one’s life trajectory. Free will can change one’s life trajectory. When I asked how I ended up at Mwiri Primary School, Busoga College, Mwiri, the University of Dar-es-Salaam, and the University of Nairobi as pupil and student and a lecturer at Makerere University, my free will was involved, except my move to the University of Dar-es-Salaam because in the case of the latter, the East African Students Exchange Council decided to send to there instead of Makerere University, which I had put as my first choice.
When I ended up at Makerere as a lecturer, I had a strong free will to do so. My credentials were secondary. If I had not decided to move to Makerere, I wouldn’t. When it came to leadership in Makerere I had a strong free will to lead. I had been a leader in Busoga College, Mwiri; so concluded I could lead. And yes, my will to lead was endorsed by Makerere University Academic Staff when they first elected me as Chairman, Academic Staff development Staff, then Deputy Secretary General and then Secretary General of Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA). Luck was not involved.
Earlier, when I joined the East African Marine Research Organisation (EAMFRO) of the East African Community and based in Zanzibar, some luck may have been involved. It was my Head of Zoology Department, Prof. A>S. Msangi, who, because of my excellent academic performance, recommended me to the Director General of EAMFRO, Dr. Sam Kitaka. The Director-General flew in from Zanzibar to interview me in the presence of my professor. He convinced me that because of my excellent academic performance, I would soon go for Ph. D studies in Biological Oceanography and be the first African to be qualified in that area in East and Central Africa. I agreed to join EAMFRO. There was no free will it was luck and availability of opportunity. The Director-General Left me with an air ticket to Zanzibar. Luck also struck when I was called for an interview at the headquarters of the East African Community in Arusha. I was among 12 candidates that were called for the interview from the three East African countries then (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). However, all the other 11 did not turn up for the interview. I was confirmed in my job. That is when I concluded God was on my side; that God presented good luck.
When I joined the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD), a regional civil society organisation for the 11 countries of the Nile Basin, I first served as Vice-Chairman, Nile Basin Discourse Forum (NBDF), one of the 11forums of the NBD before becoming its chairman. Then I found myself on the Board of NBD and Acting Secretary-General of the organisation, before being elected its chairman shortly after. I had the free will to serve as the topmost civil society leader in the Nile Basin, but I belief both God and luck were involved in my rise. I served as Chairman from 008 to 2010. It was during my service than NBD got virtually all its governance instruments. Thus, free will, God and luck can interact to determine one’s trajectory of life although it is true that one can change one’s life trajectory. I can conclude that life has played important roles in my life trajectory.
Further Reading
Adam Dehaty (2018). What Life Trajectory Am I on? Linkedin, April 21 2018. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-life-trajectory-am-i-adam-dehaty/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 14:57 pm EAT.
Bez Kategorii (2017). Back from the darkness: how i stood up and changed the trajectory of my life. Albright Partners, October 6 2017. https://albrechtpartners.com/en/how-to-change-your-life/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 15: 16 pm EAT
Certified Excellence Team (2024). Timeline and Life Trajectory. Certified Excellence, July 25, 2024https://certified-excellence.com/topics/8-5-timeline-and-life-trajectory/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 14:29 pm.
Do What You Love (2025). You Can Change the Trajectory of Your Own Life. Do What You Love, 2025. https://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/you-can-change-the-trajectory-of-your-own-life/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 14:41 pm EAT.
Gauthier, JA., Aeby, G. (2023). Life Trajectories as Products and Determinants of Social Vulnerability. In: Spini, D., Widmer, E. (eds) Withstanding Vulnerability throughout Adult Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4567-0_18
Keely A. Dugan, Randi L. Vogt, Anqing Zheng, Omri Gillath, Pascal R. Deboeck, R. Chris Fraley, D. A. Briley (2024).Life events sometimes alter the trajectory of personality development: Effect sizes for 25 life events estimated using a large, frequently assessed sample. Personality, 11 April 2023,https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12837 Visited on 27 March 2025 at 14:34 pm.
Kristin Weaver (2024). Is it possible to Change Your Life’s Trajectory: 3 Steps to Priotising Purpose Over Self. Brainz Magazine April 26 2024. https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/is-it-possible-to-change-your-life-s-trajectory-3-steps-to-prioritizing-purpose-over-selfhttps://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/is-it-possible-to-change-your-life-s-trajectory-3-steps-to-prioritizing-purpose-over-self Visited on 27 March 2025 at 14:50 pm EAT
Neil Levy (2011). Hard Luck: How Luck Undermines Free Will and Moral Responsibility. Oxford University Press.https://philpapers.org/rec/LEVHLH-2 Visited on 27 March 2025 at 15:37 pm EAT.
Miriam Young (2024). Changing your trajectory to start living a life of purpose. Tiny Buddha, 2024, https://tinybuddha.com/blog/changing-trajectory-live-life-purpose/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 15:10 pm EAT
Ryan Freeman (2014). How can we control the trajectory of our lives? The Fearless Mind, 11 June 2014. https://thefearlessmind.com/how-can-we-control-the-trajectory-of-our-lives/ Visited on 27 March 2025 at 15:21 pm EAT.
Schatzki, T.R. (2022). The Trajectories of a Life. In: Stauber, B., Walther, A., Settersten, Jr., R.A. (eds) Doing Transitions in the Life Course. Life Course Research and Social Policies, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13512-5_2
