Luck of the draw or is it?

Ever wonder about your 'lot in life?' I bet words like fate, destiny, chance and luck come to mind. I would also venture a guess that as far back as humans walked the earth, the question of how things are doled out has crossed everyone's mind. We have discussed it, compared experiences, studied it, written about it, over and over again, yet in the end does anyone really know? Some profess to know the 'secret' and the formula to achieving success and happiness.  In fact, we are bombarded with it everyday in some form or another. Yet in the end most of us continue to plug away, reaching for the dream and missing out on the most important part of life...living, embracing the beauty of everything and everyone around us and appreciating all the little successes we achieve every single day.  Yes, you read correctly, little successes every day.  So many gifts are overlooked from the simplicity of waking in the morning to the freedom to make a choice. Don't misunderstand me, I know that in our global village there are those that are suppressed, impoverished or battling an illness, which doesn't make for simplicity. Yet in that myriad of troubles are small yet significant achievements, like overcoming or forging through difficulties regardless of what is stacked up against them. Maybe we have it all wrong. We think we are given a talent so that we can become rich and famous, instead what if we are just meant to share it and leave an everlasting impression on another which in turn inspires them to do the same for someone else, and so on and so on and so on. Just a thought, nothing more.  I'm reminded of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican Friar, theologian and philosopher who spent his life teaching and writing theological and philosophical books, and was revered as a brilliant doctor of the church. Yet after a lifetime of being looked to for knowledge and wisdom he had a mystical experience and something changed. This led him to re-evaluate everything in his life and he said "All that I have written seems like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me." So let me ask you again, what do you think your lot in life is? Does it have anything to do with luck or chance? Something deep down inside tells me that it is much more than that. Everything and everyone has a purpose, and no matter how big or small that purpose is, if they don't fulfil it, we are all affected and it takes longer for us all to get to where we are going.