Marcus Aurelius: You say fortune once met you…

Luck is real, but it is not the only explanation for a life going well. Preparation makes opportunities easier to recognize. Reliability makes others more likely to trust you with responsibility. Good judgment prevents many avoidable problems. None of this guarantees the outcome you want, and it should not become a reason to blame people facing hardship. It simply restores attention to the part you can influence. You can arrive prepared, learn the necessary skill, treat people fairly, and keep your commitments. Those choices create conditions in which good possibilities have room to grow. Today, replace one wish for better luck with a useful preparation. Review before the meeting, organize the materials, make the introduction, or complete the unglamorous task. You may still meet uncertainty, but you will meet it with more resources. That is a practical kind of fortune.