Friday the 13th: What a lucky day!
Photo by fazen via Flickr
I double-dog dare you to break a mirror, walk under a ladder, cross paths with a black cat, and step on the cracks in the sidewalk today. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Yeah, I’m not quite ready to do all that either.
Most of us laugh at superstitions, but they are so ingrained in our everyday lives that we subconsciously follow them. In fact, you will have a hard time finding a building with a 13th floor since most skip it (do you feel safe on the 14th floor knowing it is *really* the 13th?).
su·per·sti·tion
Pronunciation: \ˌsü-pər-ˈsti-shən\
1 a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition
2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary
Friday the 13th is a good reminder that superstitions result from ignorance.
- Sacrificing a virgin will not keep a volcano from erupting.
- Blowing out all the candles on your cake does not guarantee your wish will come true.
- Cats don’t suck the breath out of babies.
Many times we create our own superstitions that hold us back from where we want to be.
“Everyone in my family is overweight, so I’m destined to be fat, too.”
“I’m not smart enough to start my own business.”
“You have to be rich to travel.”
Are you creating bad superstitions about your body, mind, relationships, and lifestyle?
In my own life, it is hard for me to see myself as an athlete (“I’m not built to be an athlete”). I’ve recently started training for a half-marathon next year, and I’m working on the first milestone of completing a Couch to 5K program. After my second run I told Warren I was a runner. And I’m going to continue to refer to myself as a runner because that is what I’m doing.
Even if I’m not built like one.
What are your favorite superstitions from childhood? Or your self-defeating superstitions from today? Let’s have a good laugh at both of them and put them away for good.
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Betsy Talbot writes about carving the lifestyle you want out of the life you already have. When she’s not writing, she’s paring down, saving up, and getting ready to travel the world with her husband Warren.
I love it that you’re calling yourself a runner- good for you!Because you are one now.
I noticed something interesting while I was reading this- all the superstitions you wrote, I thought of someone I knew- the one about being fat- my SIL, “you have to be rich to travel”- that’s my husband a little bit and we actually argue about it. So what are MY superstititions- I’m a little too focused on other people- I should worry about myself and stop trying to change my husband.
Thanks Betsy!
It’s funny that you bring up the point about changing your husband (or trying to). That should be a future blog post. At our house, what one of us considers a helpful suggestion the other takes as an effort to change him/her. It can get sticky. Time to write – thanks for the spark!
Betsy,
I’ve always had a great Friday the 13th and I think that’s in part because I decide to. Can’t say its luck, but I do believe in the self-fufilling prophecy.
Today I had a good networking meeting, followed by a Chamber luncheon in which I won a big door prize (valued at $1000 – holy smokes!), followed by a wonderful organizing appointment with a business client at the end of which she declared “I always feel lighter after our work together”. Now that’s a great day!
My son asked me about an hour ago if I thought Friday the 13th was an unlucky day, and I told him that ever since I was young, I believed it was a lucky day. I hope he’ll decide that for all of the Friday the 13th’s that will come in his life, he’ll have good days too.
Thanks for your thought-provoking post. May all of your future Friday the 13th’s be great as well, whether by luck or by design!
Betsy, I so love this post and it is so right-on. I truly believe we are who we say we are, etc. When I first started running I would say, “I am a runner. There is no road I can’t run, no trail I can’t traverse.” It works, and it works for any area of our lives!
Here’s one:
I can’t do ‘xyz’ until my kids move out or I retire.
Donna, sometimes the hardest person to convince is yourself – at least that is true for me. So calling myself a runner does way more to convince me than anyone else. As a matter of fact, I’m always shocked when I tell someone I’m going to run the half-marathon and they just nod their heads like it is the most normal thing in the world. So far no one has burst out laughing. You are spot on!
Kate, I hear this one a lot! “I would love to travel but I have kids.” We know of several families who travel, and one in particular who did it with a 1-year-old. So it can definitely be done – if someone really wants to do it. Just like any other goal. Good one!