Most people don't get to choose what company or industry they work for anymore. Now, you have better odds of getting a return on a lottery ticket than the 70:1 odds you have of filing a job application that actually gets you hired. If that's not luck, I don't know what is.
If you dare tell me otherwise, I will tell you right now that you haven't followed a career path to a dead end and been left with no viable options for redeeming yourself.
Yes, I dare.
Following a career path to a dead end is not being unlucky. It is choosing NOT to be smart at what to do about your career.
Yes, I have been laid off. It was BECAUSE I was not following my own head. It made me realize that I am the decider in what I do, and what I am good at. A whole new mindset came about to then do what is the best at the outcome I desired. NO luck, but hard work and taking advantage of this great land of opportunity.
If you feel hopeless, then you have not done the hard work. I did not feel hopeless with the 2 years spent looking for a job and the 1000 hours writing letters, on the phone, being interviewed, etc.