Long before modern psychology began studying optimism, cognition, and behavior, ancient thinkers were already grappling with a question we still ask today:

Why do some lives seem to unfold more favorably than others?

In Roman mythology, Fortuna—the goddess of fortune—was often depicted holding a wheel. The wheel symbolized the unpredictable nature of life: how quickly circumstances could change, how easily fate could turn.

Fortuna did not distribute outcomes fairly or logically.
Her gifts—and her losses—could appear arbitrary.

At first glance, this perspective feels deeply familiar.

There are moments in life when things seem to happen to us—
unexpected setbacks, unearned opportunities, sudden shifts we didn’t choose.

It can feel, quite simply, like luck.

But the Stoic philosophers offered a subtle—and powerful—reframe.

They did not deny uncertainty.
They did not pretend that life was fully controllable.

Instead, they shifted the focus.

As Epictetus wrote:

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

And as Marcus Aurelius emphasized:

“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

In other words, while Fortuna may spin the wheel,
it is our interpretation, our response, and our actions that shape what follows.

This idea—ancient as it is—turns out to be deeply consistent with what modern psychology now demonstrates.

What the Stoics described philosophically, we now understand empirically:

Our experience of life is not determined solely by events themselves,
but by the meaning-making processes that sit between those events and our response to them.

And those processes have a name.

They are our cognitions—the thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations through which we understand the world.

They shape what we notice.
They influence how our bodies respond to stress.
They guide the choices we make, often outside of our awareness.

Over time, these patterns do something remarkable.

They begin to organize our experience in ways that can look, from the outside, like luck.

As Seneca wrote:

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

But preparation, in this sense, is not just external.

It is psychological.

It is the ability to remain open, flexible, and engaged—
to notice opportunity when it appears,
and to act on it in a way that moves your life forward.

Which means that what we call luck may not be random at all.

It may be the natural result of how we:

interpret what happens to us
regulate our internal experience
and engage with the world over time

Or, said more simply:

You cannot control the turning of Fortuna’s wheel.
But you can learn to orient yourself in a way that allows you to meet whatever it brings.

And that orientation—your relationship to your thoughts, your body, and your actions—is not fixed.

It is something that can be understood.
And, with intention, it is something that can be changed.

Change Is the Constant—Your Relationship to It Is the Work

At Breyta Psychological Services, our name reflects something fundamental:

Change is not the exception. It is the rule.

Life is inherently dynamic.
There is always movement.
Always uncertainty.
Always a degree of entropy in the system.

In that sense, Fortuna’s wheel was never wrong.

Circumstances shift.
Outcomes evolve.
Control is, at best, partial.

But what the Stoics understood, and what modern psychology now confirms, is this:

While you cannot control every outcome, you can learn to orient yourself in relation to them.

This is where our work begins.

We help you develop what might be thought of as an internal compass:

How you relate to your past
How you interpret your present
How you anticipate and engage with your future

Because it is this relationship—not luck—that shapes your experience.

And from there, something else becomes possible.

You learn how to:

Regulate your internal state, even when external conditions are uncertain
Interpret events with greater flexibility and accuracy
Stay open to opportunity rather than constricted by fear
Act in alignment with your values, rather than react from old patterns

If Fortuna represents the winds you cannot control,
then this is the work of learning to set your sails.

Not to eliminate uncertainty.
Not to guarantee outcomes.

But to ensure that when opportunity, challenge, or change arrives—as it always does—
you are ready to meet it.

In that sense, the goal is not to become “lucky.”

It is to become aligned, prepared, and responsive in a way that allows your life to unfold with greater intention.

Cognitions: The Invisible Architecture of Your Life

At the core of this is something deceptively simple:

Cognitions—our thoughts, beliefs, and interpretations—shape everything.

Not just how we feel, but:

What we notice
What we expect
How we respond
What we remember
And ultimately, what we experience

Two people can move through the same environment and walk away with entirely different realities—not because the world changed, but because their interpretive lens did.

This idea is central to decades of psychological research, including work on explanatory (or attributional) style—how we make sense of events in our lives (Seligman, 1991).

And importantly:

These patterns are learned. Which means they can be changed.

Why “Lucky People” Seem to Have Better Outcomes

People who consider themselves “lucky” are not necessarily encountering more opportunity.

They are noticing more of it—and engaging with it differently.

Research on dispositional optimism shows that individuals with a more optimistic orientation are more likely to:

Remain open to possibility
Persist through challenges
Engage socially and behaviorally

(Carver & Scheier, 2014)

In contrast, a more pessimistic cognitive style tends to narrow perception:

Attention becomes threat-focused
Ambiguity is interpreted negatively
Opportunities are missed or dismissed

Over time, these differences compound into very different outcomes.

Not because of fate—but because of filters.

🍀 The Self-Fulfilling Nature of “Luck”

One of the most compelling findings in the psychology of luck is this:

People who believe they are lucky tend to create conditions where things are more likely to work out.

Research by Richard Wiseman suggests that individuals who describe themselves as “lucky” are not simply benefiting from chance—they are engaging with the world in a fundamentally different way (Wiseman, 2003).

They tend to:

Expect that things will work out
Remain more relaxed and less constrained by anxiety
Stay open to unexpected opportunities
Engage more easily with others and build broader social networks

This creates what is, in effect, a self-fulfilling pattern.

When you expect positive outcomes:

You persist longer
You notice more possibilities
You take more social and behavioral risks
You recover more quickly from setbacks

And as a result, outcomes are more likely to actually improve.

Importantly, this is not about irrational positivity.

Even constructs like belief in good luck—once dismissed as superstition—have been shown to function as a psychological resource, helping individuals cope with uncertainty and maintain motivation when outcomes are not fully within their control (Darke & Freedman, 1997; Day & Maltby, 2003).

In this sense, believing that things can work out is not naïve.

It is adaptive.

The Psychophysiology of Outlook: Your Thoughts Live in Your Body

Your thoughts don’t just influence your mood.

They shape your nervous system.

Every interpretation answers a fundamental biological question:

“Am I safe, or am I under threat?”

A more pessimistic, rigid interpretation can lead to:

Prolonged stress activation
Elevated cortisol
Increased inflammation
Greater cardiovascular strain

Whereas a more flexible, optimistic orientation is associated with:

Faster recovery from stress
Lower baseline physiological arousal
Greater resilience over time

Large-scale reviews and longitudinal studies have consistently demonstrated that optimism is linked to better physical health outcomes and even increased longevity (Rasmussen et al., 2009; Lee et al., 2019; Scheier & Carver, 2018).

This is not abstract.

It is biological.

Behavior: Where Thought Becomes Outcome

Cognition doesn’t stop at interpretation—it drives behavior.

If your underlying belief is:

“Nothing I do will make a difference,”

You are less likely to:

Follow through on goals
Prioritize health
Seek support
Stay engaged when things get hard

If your belief is:

“My actions matter, even if outcomes aren’t guaranteed,”

You are more likely to:

Take meaningful action
Invest in your health and relationships
Stay in the process long enough for change to occur

Over time, these small decisions accumulate.

And what looks like “luck” begins to emerge as the visible outcome of patterns of thinking and behavior.

If You’ve Always Felt Unlucky

If you’ve spent much of your life feeling unlucky, it’s important to understand:

This is not a flaw.

It is often the result of:

Early learning environments
Chronic stress or adversity
Trauma or loss
Patterns that once helped you cope

A pessimistic attributional style is not something you chose—it’s something you learned.

And because it was learned, it can be unlearned and reshaped.

The First Step: Understanding Your Own Mind

One of the most empowering things you can do is begin to understand:

How do I interpret the world?
What patterns am I bringing into my life, without realizing it?

This kind of insight is often the turning point.

At Breyta Psychological Services, we offer the
👉 WAVE Insight Experience™

—a structured, evidence-informed assessment process designed to help you:

Understand your patterns of thinking, emotion, and behavior
Identify where you may be getting stuck
Gain clarity on how to move forward in a way that aligns with your values

Because before you can change your life, you have to understand the system that’s creating it.

Change Happens in Relationship—with Yourself and Others

Insight is powerful—but it is not always sufficient on its own.

This is where individual psychotherapy becomes essential.

Through therapy, you can:

Work directly with entrenched cognitive patterns
Build psychological flexibility
Practice responding differently in real time
Create lasting change that extends beyond intellectual understanding

👉 Learn more about Individual Therapy

🍀 When “Luck” Becomes a Relationship Issue

Differences in cognitive and attributional style don’t just affect individuals.

They affect relationships.

When one partner tends to interpret situations optimistically and the other more negatively, it can create:

Misunderstandings
Emotional disconnection
Frustration or resentment
A sense of living in two different realities

While each person is ultimately responsible for their own growth, these patterns often need to be addressed together.

Couples therapy provides a space to:

Understand each other’s perspectives more clearly
Reduce reactivity and misinterpretation
Build a more shared, flexible way of navigating life

👉 Explore Couples Therapy

A Different Way to Think About Luck

So this St. Patrick’s Day, instead of asking whether you are lucky, consider a different question:

What is the lens through which I am interpreting my life?

Because that lens:

Shapes your biology
Influences your behavior
Determines what you see and don’t see
And plays a powerful role in the outcomes you experience

Luck, in this sense, is not something you wait for.

It is something you begin to participate in.

Final Thought

The people who seem the luckiest are rarely the ones who were given the most.

They are the ones who learned how to:

See differently
Stay open
Act despite uncertainty
And engage with life in a way that creates possibility

And that is not luck.

That is psychological skill.

References

Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2014). Dispositional optimism. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(6), 293–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2014.02.003

Darke, P. R., & Freedman, J. L. (1997). The belief in good luck scale. Journal of Research in Personality, 31(4), 486–511. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2193

Day, L., & Maltby, J. (2003). Belief in good luck and psychological well-being: The mediating role of optimism and irrational beliefs. The Journal of Psychology, 137(1), 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980309600602

Lee, L. O., James, P., Zevon, E. S., Kim, E. S., Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Spiro, A., Grodstein, F., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2019). Optimism is associated with exceptional longevity in two epidemiologic cohorts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(37), 18357–18362. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900712116

Rasmussen, H. N., Scheier, M. F., & Greenhouse, J. B. (2009). Optimism and physical health: A meta-analytic review. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37(3), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9111-x

Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (2018). Dispositional optimism and physical health: A long look back, a quick look forward. American Psychologist, 73(9), 1082–1094. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000384

Wiseman, R. (2003). The luck factor: Changing your luck, changing your life. Miramax Books.

Wiseman, R. (2003). The luck factor. Skeptical Inquirer, 27(3), 24–28.

Luck Isn’t Random: The Psychology and Biology of “Making Your Own Luck”

Fortuna, the Stoics, and the Psychology of Luck