Fortune

Earned or given?

“I think luck falls on not just the brave but also the ones who believe they belong there.” — Novak Djokovic

We all know the adage, “luck is when opportunity meets preparation”, which, to a certain degree, is true.

However, I believe the above words from Novak Djokovic help better situate the role of luck and fortune in our lives.

The 24-time Grand Slam Champion would not have achieved his heights atop the mountain of tennis if it were not for the opportunity his parents afforded him. Taking out many loans to send the 12-year-old Novak to the Pilic tennis academy in Germany. To tennis academies in Italy and the United States.

Those opportunities gave rise to an unquenchable thirst to prepare himself to seize every advantage possible. This preparation began with thousands of hours on the court, but evolved into more than just hitting a tennis ball.

He adopted a gluten- and dairy-free diet in 2010; this proved to be such an impactful turning point in his career that he wrote a book about it.

Regarding his physical training, his flexibility and pliability have become just as crucial as any cardio or strength training. This has kept the 38-year-old relatively healthy in a sport marred by soft-tissue injuries.

Over the last decade, Djokovic has become a staunch advocate of mindfulness and meditation; another step in preparation that often goes unnoticed.

“I [meditate] everyday for about 15 minutes and it is as important to me as my physical training. I’ve done so much mindfulness that my brain functions better now automatically. I used to freeze up whenever I made a mistake. Now when I blow a serve or shank a backhand I still get those flashes of self doubt but I know how to handle them.”

Early opportunities and the subsequent preparation have set the foundation for any “luck” that may come Djokovic’s way.

In tennis, you can attribute a ball that hits the tape and trickles over the net to luck. You can get lucky on a point, or even in a match that sees an opponent withdraw.

But for a young Serbian boy entering the ATP Tour during the height of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s dominance, it was the aforementioned belief that he belonged that allowed him to ascend to the pinnacle of the sport.

“There was a time when I met luck at every turn,” wrote Marcus Aurelius. “But luck is the good fortune you determine for yourself: and good fortune consists in good inclinations of the soul, good impulses, good actions.”

When Antoninus Pius adopted Marcus at the age of 17, he knew what his future would hold: emperor of Rome.

While this may seem like incredibly good fortune to outsiders, for a boy enthralled in education and philosophy, he wanted no part of the throne. However, his training as a Stoic made the choice clear to him that Hadrian’s succession plan was his duty (Interestingly enough, he did not thank Hadrian for this plan in the first book of Meditations).

With all the fame, power, and riches in the world, Marcus could have easily clouded his decisions with greed, gluttony, and selfishness.

It was at his fingertips to use his circumstance to stray from the “good inclinations of the soul, good impulses, good actions” he valued.

However, as Anthony Birley writes, “He still showed the same respect to his relations as he had when he was an ordinary citizen, and he was as thrifty and careful of his possessions as he had been when he lived in a private household.”

Djokovic did not let the fact that he was born into a war-torn country or the reality that he would spend his career competing against two of the best to ever do it change his belief that he was destined for greatness.

Marcus did not let the fact that he could have anything in the world change the way he treated himself, others, or his commitment to Stoic philosophy.

These are two men, born over 1,800 years apart, who knew who they were, were steadfast in their beliefs, and did not let anyone or any outside circumstance stop them from achieving their goals in life.

Whether you want to excel in an athletic feat like Djokovic or live a life of inner peace in accordance with nature like Marcus, it does not matter your place in life.

Success, peace, and blissful joy are available to us every second of the day. It is our opportunity to seize them and watch as those outside the arena call it luck.

“An external change cannot alleviate an internal torment.” — Rob Reimer