Matter of luck?

A doctor friend told me that good health is "a matter of luck". So, I am just plain lucky.

My greatest “achievement” till today – well, you will never know what may happen tomorrow – is that I have never spent a day as an inpatient in a hospital, either an ordinary nursing home or of a super speciality variety, so far in 68 years. Not that I am hale and hearty; I do pop my daily dose of tablets – one to regulate the BP and the other to boost my thyroid – but beyond that no hospital has beckoned me to occupy a cot in its inpatient ward.

But wait, did I claim it as an achievement? I should not because my doctor friend tells me that good health is “a matter of luck” and so going by his definition I am just plain lucky.
What is luck then? “Something that seems to happen by chance rather than as a logical consequence,” says the lexicon.

This means that my not checking into a hospital as an inpatient is something that has happened by chance.  The corollary is that all those unfortunate souls who have to suffer the incarceration in a hospital ward that reeks of phenol are plain unlucky. My father was one such unlucky person because he had to spend several nights on several occasions in a strange cot.

It is obvious, at least in my case, that this streak of luck (or misfortune?) is not hereditary and, therefore, not hidden in the DNA structure. Am I then to conclude that all those who are hale and hearty are simply lucky? Staring at this line of my own thought is the case of my friend.

A strict disciplinarian, teetotaller, used only the doctor recommended edible oil, practised yoga, never missed his morning walk and – to top it all – not under any marital tension being a bachelor. No need for luck to play any part here because if he is not healthy who else will or can be? Yet he had to undergo a bypass surgery. Asked about this, his surgeon nonchalantly said: “If you had not done all that you did, you would have come to me five years earlier!” It was as plain as that.

So, where does this lead to? Resign to the ‘matter-of-luck policy’ and enjoy a carefree life? Or, forego even the simple pleasures of life and yet be ready to spend a couple of days in a sickbay? But most of choose the ‘via’ media. And when the time comes to get the body repaired, in the company of nurses, we cheerily accept the karma theory. Will my turn come? I will surely share that experience if the editor allows!

By the way, some say that even those who accept the karma theory and believe that what is destined to happen cannot be altered, look both ways before crossing the road, even if it’s a one-way!