There's no forever one-in-a-universe answer to it :) The moment you believe it's so - you live in a parallel universe, where your experience expresses it to you, feels like that to you, with every possible confirmation. The moment you believe differently - and you live in a different world, where your experience proves you otherwise.

So it's more "what you choose to live."

But I want to point you to a different direction, also: you say,

1. "I've always had such huge dreams" and
2. "I've had bouts of bad luck one after the other".

Huge dreams are energy, already existing, in which you at first are not aligned - so it feels to you like a negative experience. If you take it as such, and feel ornery about it and not align on it, the stream becomes even huger :) and your experience, expressing the gap, becomes even more negative, etc.

It's only up to you to do your vibrational work/play and align in the stream, to get to use that huge good energy that is existing for you (being you). No one else can do it for you, it's your job.

You can use all kinds of known vibrational exercises, like focus wheels etc., or invent your own. These Levels of Creation by Eloheim & the Council can be helpful in aligning about the situation and the feeling on the fly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaTDkr4qdfc

Regarding "in parts of my life I feel like I am still taken advantage of", I recently found this on a physicist Thomas Campbell's site:

"The other paradox has to do with quantum mechanics - Tom uses the example of an atom that could be in one of two states (A or B). Within a minute it has a 50% chance of decaying to state B from state A. The act of measuring a particular state within the first minute appeared to stop the atom from changing its state (or decaying) provided that a measurement of its state was made, despite that the atom had a probability of changing its state. This became a paradox because the act of measuring should not affect the decay behavior? If reality is a probabilistic system; then every time you make the measurement prior to the time that it has a 50% chance of decay you are most likely to get an 'A' state, hence you get an A and there is no longer any uncertainty. This has the effect of re-setting the system so that uncertainty has to build up again in order for the state to change when you are not looking. As long as you are looking for it in A then it never decays. This is another example of a probabilistic virtual reality giving you an easy answer to this behavior."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHhPbDC2pMI

Meaning, by focusing on seeing it like this, you're perpetuating this in your life. Is it what you want to be perpetuating? Or is there something else you could, if you wanted to, find in these people and your relationship with them, that you would want to perpetuate?

Bashar would also say, when you define it in such a way, you can't use it as stepping stones to what you want.

But it's not even, for my opinion, the most important thing. The most important is, how you feel in the moment, how you choose to feel in the moment. The moment you define it as "being used", that's what you live in this moment! And it has to start with you, to choose your viewpoint.

Take charge, powerful being.

To answer your question many think about their egoistic self first and about other people later so often they will do to others what they would not like being done to themselves; they do this to achieve their desire. Often they'll step on you to show to others that they're better, they don't realize that others will do the same to them, if they could they'd change their ways.

Many people are thieves in this world and yes they can take physical stuff from you, and mental stuff ideas, thoughts and make them their own. The problem is that because they steal stuff that is't theirs they do not know where it comes from and they are not able to produce the same result that the person that have those thoughts and ideas, and eventually they get caught.

You ask:can people absorb/take away your goodness and luck from you?

Your goodness and luck they cannot take it away unless you let them have it and think that you have it no more.

Then I'd say that you have let the darkness over take you because those people are blind and are already in the darkness. Do not set your standard according to the worst in people from this world, and do not become like them if you do you are no better then them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ1V0H9rz8Y

let there be light , be the light that you can be, experience and enjoy.

jealousness as an ideation exists
as does spiritual vampire-ism,
one learns through experience and careful
study how to dismiss these predators,
much is addressed in ancient wisdoms

If I feel that people can absorb and take away my goodness, my luck, my anything ... then the very feeling that I'm feeling is a permission slip for them to be able to do so, I'm effectively opening the door and allowing them to come in and do so.

I am what I vibrate, when I feel vulnerable I am vulnerable, when I feel strong I am strong, when I feel rich I am rich, when I feel love I am love ...