• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
Dana Point Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
Dana Point Times
No Result
View All Result

Wavelenghts: The Luck of the Draw

by Dana Point Times
March 22, 2014 11:01AM
in Opinion Columns, SOAPBOX
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“It is the mark of an inexperienced man not to believe in luck.” – Joseph Conrad

By Jim Kempton

Why do Americans have such a pervasive belief that we are the product of our own making?

Ask most people and they will say that we create our own luck. But we so often forget that no matter how much preparation, energy and perseverance we invest, unpredictable luck still plays a critical role. Yet we usually don’t want to admit it.

E.B. White once said “Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.”

Although I have written about this before, I think the idea is worth revisiting. Here are some additional examples—some of which have kept me humble, thankful, respectful and appreciative whenever I get to thinking I personally deserve all my “self-made” successes.

Jim Kempton. File photo
Jim Kempton. File photo

At one point in my career, I became the vice president of marketing at TransWorld Publishing. I was in charge of the marketing at both Skateboarding and Snowboarding magazines. I took all the things I had learned in my years working at Surfer magazine and applied them to my plan at these two new publications.

The skateboarding sector of the boardsports business was in the doldrums but the snowboard industry was taking off like a rocket. So my efforts exploded the Snow magazine profits, but just barely kept Skateboarding afloat. I looked like a genius in snow and a dunce in skate—but did exactly the same things. It was simply the luck of the draw.

Sometimes it is literally the number on the card you get dealt: One of my friends and I received our notices about the Vietnam draft status together. I’ll never forget opening our draft lottery letters on the lawn in front of the college cafeteria.

By the luck of the draw our lives were set in motion never to be the same. My number was 342—meaning I was in the 5 percent who was least likely to ever be drafted. I could finish school and explore the dreams I envisioned. His was number five—meaning he was not going to complete college, his dreams deferred. He was off to the jungles of Southeast Asia to return as a very different man

So the lesson from all this is not that hard work or perseverance doesn’t count—it is that you shouldn’t count on them. You still must have determination, honed skills and deep commitment to succeed at anything. Life is a little like playing cards. You can be the best poker player in the world, but you still need the luck of a Royal Flush to beat a guy who got dealt four aces.

Jim Kempton is a writer and surfer who readily admits to having had lots of luck come his way—his wife, his children and his many friends. He believes the secret to life is not so much in getting a great hand, but in knowing when to cash in your chips and go home for the night.

In an effort to provide our readers with a wide variety of opinions from our community, the DP Times provides Guest Opinion opportunities in which selected columnists’ opinions are shared. The opinions expressed in these columns are entirely those of the columnist alone and do not reflect those of the DP Times or Picket Fence Media. If you would like to respond to this column, please email us at editorial@danapointtimes.com

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
Tags: Guest OpinionJim KemptonWavelenghts
ShareTweetPin

Dana Point Times

Related Posts

The Big Dig: Widening I-5 for HOV Lanes

The Big Dig: Widening I-5 for HOV Lanes

August 26, 2022
From Film Fests to Book Signings, Here’s What’s Cooking Around South County

From Film Fests to Book Signings, Here’s What’s Cooking Around South County

November 12, 2021
GUEST OPINION: Health and Nutrition 101 by Gina Cousineau, a.k.a. Mama G

GUEST OPINION: Health and Nutrition 101 by Gina Cousineau, a.k.a. Mama G

May 15, 2020
Dana Point ROCKS by Anthony Small: Jazz it up in Dana Point

Dana Point ROCKS: In One Year, Out the Other

January 18, 2020
Next Post

Dana Point Skatepark Movement Takes Shape

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

DP Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the DP Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Dana Point Times
  • San Clemente Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • DP Chamber Directory

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Good Eats
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Ocean Institute Jazz Festival Fundraiser
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Swallows Day Parade & Mercado Event Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.