You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be

“You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it.”
So spoke Jimmy Dean, the singer, actor, and dreamer whose life echoed with the rhythms of courage and chance. His words rise not as idle advice, but as a hymn to opportunity—a reminder that fortune favors not only the bold, but the willing. For in every dawn, unseen doors swing open; in every heartbeat, the world extends a quiet invitation. Yet most walk past, blind to their blessings, deaf to their chances. Dean’s wisdom calls to us as an ancient echo might: take the leap, even when the outcome is unknown, for life’s gifts are hidden in the act of trying.

In the language of old, this would be called the virtue of audacity. The Romans spoke of Fortuna audaces iuvat—“Fortune favors the brave.” For luck, like a sleeping lion, awakens only when stirred. It is not the hand of destiny that chooses us, but our willingness to reach toward it that makes destiny unfold. Dean, a man of humble origins, understood this truth. He rose from the dust of Texas fields to the heights of fame, not through certainty, but through daring—through saying yes when fear whispered no. His life itself became proof that luck reveals itself only to those who act.

Think upon the tale of Christopher Columbus, who set sail into a sea where maps ended and monsters were said to dwell. Many mocked him, many doubted, but he trusted that unseen winds might favor those who tried their luck. And indeed, though storms and peril lay ahead, the winds did answer. He discovered a world not by magic, but by motion—by stepping forward when others stood still. So it is with all who dare: the lucky are not chosen; they are found in movement.

Yet Jimmy Dean’s words carry a gentler tone, a humor touched with human warmth. He does not speak as a conqueror, but as a companion—someone who knows that every man and woman, no matter how ordinary their days, may walk beside unseen miracles. To “try your luck at least once a day” is to live awake—to knock on the doors of fate, to reach out your hand, to smile at a stranger, to write the letter you’ve been postponing, to take the small brave act that could change everything. It is not gambling—it is faith in possibility.

For what is luck, if not the meeting place between preparation and courage? The farmer who tills his soil may find his harvest blessed, but only because he rose early and labored beneath the sun. The artist who paints each morning may one day find their work adored, yet only because they kept painting long after others stopped. Luck does not arrive unbidden; it comes disguised as persistence, wearing the face of chance.

There is a story of J.K. Rowling, who, before she was known to the world, sat in a café, penniless and weary, clutching a manuscript no one wanted. She sent it again, and again, facing rejection after rejection. Yet one day, she tried her luck once more—and this time, the world answered. Her story, like Dean’s wisdom, is a testament to the truth that luck often waits just beyond the point of giving up.

From this teaching, let every listener learn: life favors the doer. Do not let a single day pass without testing the winds of chance. Speak to the person who inspires you. Begin the project that frightens you. Send the message that might open a door. For inaction is the surest way to bury fortune; courage is the surest way to awaken it.

And so, my child of time and dust, remember this: you walk among blessings you cannot yet see. Perhaps today is the day your seed will bloom, your letter will reach the right hands, your voice will be heard. Do not wait for luck to come to you—step toward it. For the world belongs not to the cautious, but to the brave who try, and try again, until destiny itself must rise and say: “Here is one who would not be denied.”