It's Your Lucky Day

In my medical practice, patients would sometimes mistakenly call me “Dr. Lucky” instead of Dr. Lucking. I have to confess, it always made me smile, and I wouldn’t usually correct them. Reflecting on the past two years, do I still feel lucky? Really, does any cancer patient feel lucky? I definitely didn’t feel lucky when I found out that I had Inflammatory Breast Cancer in March 2022, nor when I found out that I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation. However, if I look at my life overall, I would say yes to feeling lucky or fortunate. Many cancer patients will say that except for the cancer part, the diagnosis was the best thing that could have happened and that it revealed so many blessings.

We want to believe that positive outcomes will arise from misfortunes. The Taoist farmer story illustrates that no singular event in our life can be judged as lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate. Only time can tell the whole story as life unfolds and we experience it.

There was an old farmer. One day his horse ran away. All the villagers came by and said, “We’re so sorry to hear this. What bad luck.” The farmer responded, “Maybe.”

A few weeks later, while the man was working, he looked up and saw his horse running toward him with a whole herd of horses. The villagers said, “Wow, what good luck!” The farmer responded, “Maybe.”

A few weeks later, while the farmer’s son was helping to train the wild horses, he fell and broke his leg. The villagers came by and said, “We’re so sorry to hear this. What bad luck.” The farmer responded, “Maybe.”

A few weeks later, the army came marching through town conscripting every able-bodied young man. Since the boy’s leg was broken, the army passed him by. The villagers told the farmer, “What good luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe.”

What is luck and why do we look for it? Call it blessings, good fortune, or bon chance. Luck is the perception of succeeding or prospering through chance. Oprah has been quoted as saying, “I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been “lucky”. However, it is not only preparation meeting opportunity but also openness to and realization that an opportunity has presented itself. How we react and want we do next matters more than the event itself. Yes, I inherited an unlucky genetic mutation, but there are so many other aspects of my health that I can optimize to change the down and upregulation of my 20,000 other genes. This is the power of Epigenetics and it's the basis for how we grow and respond.

The deeper power of luck lies in the belief and perspective. Our beliefs are what we accept as true and are formed from our experiences filtered through our personality, upbringing and views. There is a biochemical basis for belief. Our bodies respond to our thoughts and emotions, down to the cellular and genetic level. You can physically observe this in people. Believing that you are well or sick changes how you hold and view yourself and yours cells reflect this belief.

Belief in a treatment makes it more likely to work and can be measured in vital signs and blood markers. This is the basis of the psychological effect of placebo. Placebos are used often as controls in studies to test new medications. One group is given a sugar pill (placebo) and the other the test medication. The new medication has to outperform the effects of the placebo. Conversely, the phenomenon of nocebo is powerful too. Nocebo is when a substance or treatment causes harm because you expect it to or don't believe it will work. It occurs through negative emotions (stress, fear, and anxiety). If you expect a treatment to cause bad side effects, it is more likely to do so. If a provider expresses that they don't think it the treatment will work, there’s a higher chance that it won’t. If you think a treatment will be painful, you’re more likely to feel pain. Belief in your healing team, treatments, and in your body’s healing capabilities is very significant.

Cancer survivor Mark Nepo touches on the belief of symbols in a passage of his book The Book of the Awakening: “A caveman picking berries was cornered by a wild now extinct creature, and when he was spared by the sudden snap of a tree limb that scared the best off, he took a piece of fallen bough as a good luck charm. And so the story of symbols began.” He then goes on to say, “We ask the smallest items of everyday life to carry unbearable meaning for us…” Talismans and totems are important physical manifestations of our tribal beliefs and faith. A gifted handmade blanket is not just a blanket, but a tangible gift of blessing and love. A lucky angel pin is not just an accessory, but one that provides solidarity, comfort, and angelic protection. Religious are steeped in the deeply divine sanctity and significance of symbols and rituals.

Sorting through the chaos of life looking for meaning, signs, and messages can be supportive when the ground below feels like quicksand. Maybe it is like searching for clues to see if the plot of our lives is a true underdog story, comedy, romance, or tragedy. Are you really a cancer patient if you’re not looking for hidden messages like repeating numbers (11:11 anyone?), feathers (angels all around you), lucky pennies (blessings from Heaven), hidden heart shapes, majestic creatures in nature and four leaf clovers? These signs can propel us on our journey, lighten our step, prompt a knowing smile, and lift our spirits. Symbols can carry personal meaning of divine messages, being in the flow, or feeling an embrace from the universe.

A common springtime symbol is that of the lucky, green four leaf clover. The fourth leaf is due to a genetic mutation in the clover Trifolium repens. (How glorious that a genetic mutation created something that is viewed as lucky!) A clover has a 1 in 10,000 chance of having 4 leaves instead of 3, making it rare and lucky to find one according to Irish tradition. Prior to Christianity, the Druids believed that shamrocks could ward off evil spirits and danger. A three-leaf shamrock would help to escape evil spirits and a four-leaf shamrock would ward off bad luck and offer magical protection. St. Patrick used the three-leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or faith, hope and love. The fourth leaf was for luck.

So on this St. Patrick’s Day as we celebrate Irish culture and the patron saint of Ireland, embrace your luckiness through openness, intuition, optimism, resilience, and faith. And I offer you this blessing:

“May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sunshine always warm your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”