I was chatting with my ex-colleague the other day. He was one of the guys who went to UK with me – also my housemate for 7 months in London. During our stay there, he always met up with this good friend of his who was based in London.

I used “was”, because my friend told me, his good friend has just passed away due to cancer few months ago. It was very sudden. My friend then told me the whole story and somehow, I’m deeply touched by the entire incident. Perhaps it’s because I can imagine myself in that position, to lose someone so dear, in such a short time and totally out of expectations. I was completely speechless after that and didn’t know what to say.

To make things worse, this friend of his has actually lost her boyfriend due to cancer 2 years before this. She was really unlucky even though she came from a very rich family and had the opportunity to further her studies in US and UK. Her friends used to be envious of her because of her background, and they often regarded her as someone lucky.

But in her diary, she wrote that her greatest gift was her family and friends… not the money, nor the opportunities.

And I agree with her. Having all the money in this world is useless if you cannot even spend quality time with your family and friends because money can only bring you ‘that’ far. How often have you heard of stories where rich people end their life due to loneliness or rich people trying so hard to know some real friends? Because money can’t bring you those. Money can’t buy everything.

And really, if you don’t have the opportunities to spend quality time with loved ones…. what’s the point? Do you think you can still lead a happy life?

So stop thinking that people who can fly here n there, buy big houses and cars, and can afford everything they ever need ….are lucky. Because that is not how you should define “lucky”.

At the end of the day, family and friends, and the moments you spend with them, are the things that will decide whether you’re a lucky person or not. Nothing else matters more than them.

And people, always remember that life is really fragile. It just takes a few seconds to decide your fate, to decide whether you’re going to continue living in this world, or not. So, just live your life to the fullest. Stop giving excuses for not doing certain things that you really want to do. Also, if you feel like you’re wasting your time doing something, then make a change. If you think there’s something you really want to try out, then go for it. And if there’s someone that you really miss, give him/her a call. Don’t just sit there doing nothing and waste your life. Life is too short for you to waste it like that.

Last but not least, all I want to say is that most of us have the wrong assumption that being lucky is to be able to buy all your needs and wants. This is how our world has made us think. In the end, most of us chase after all these things in order to be the next lucky person that everyone around us envies or talks about. And most often than not, this ‘chase’ will never end because it’s just too impossible to end.

But don’t get me wrong, it CAN end…. not by being involved in the ‘chase’, but by being content and appreciate what we have. Once we do that, I’m sure most of us will realize that ….actually…we’re all very lucky because we can spend quality time with our loved ones. So what’s next then? Help spread this ‘good luck’ of yours to other people.

Hope it helps.