It is Friday the 13th!
In many cultures, a Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck. This is especially so amongst English, German, Polish and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe.
Strangely, in Greece or Spain Tuesday the 13th is considered to be bad luck. Either way, it is even stranger how a whole range of phrases have arisen around the fear of Friday the 13th.
For instance, the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, apparently a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words for Friday, thirteen, and phobia.
(In case you are really interested, alternate spellings include paraskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia, and is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia of the number thirteen).
Enough talk of phobias!
I know some people take this superstition really seriously and don’t even venture out of the house, perhaps just staying bed all day. I read somewhere this morning that it has been estimated that in the USA alone, around $800 or $900 million is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do.
Staying in bed all day once in a while is probably quite a good idea. But this made me wonder what I would have missed out on today if I had done just that.
Well, to start with I would have missed out on a gloriously sunny spring day in London. Apart from that, as well as doing my usual business stuff, so far today I have:-
• Finished the draft of my next book all about “52 Key questions about CSR”. More on that another time.
• Sent out a number of emails for feedback on my books plus testimonials.
• Met a long term friend for lunch after almost a year. Shared a superb vegetarian meal with her and caught up on old times.
• Walked through Regents Park – stunning at this time of the year with the spring blossom.
• Created some more web pages.
• Written this article.
Later this afternoon I am visiting my local garden centre and this evening, I am due to meet a friend and ex-client, flying in from Dublin, for dinner and a catch-up.
All in all, a very full, fun and productive day indeed.
The point of sharing the above is this – it is up to you make it happen.
Nice though it would be to just stay in bed and keep our heads under a blanket in case of bad luck, we have to just get out there and do the things that matter.
Indeed, it is up to you to simply go out and make your own luck!
What did YOU achieve today on Friday the 13th?!
i dont beleive that at all
friday is a very lucky day and a very important one in the matter of fact because the judjment day will be at friday …so have fun and pay no attention to superstitions …
good luck with tomorrow friday the 13
bye
Superb idea for a post and something I always tell superstitious people. I always make my own luck!
Thanks Amit – this post if from a while ago. So I posted another one for today, Friday 13th November.
Do check it out:-)
Amit,
Here’s the post:-
https://www.arvinddevalia.com/how-to-make-your-own-luck-even-on-friday-the-13th/
Make sure you get your lottery ticket!
Hi Arvind,
Thank you for this – only seen this evening. I’m not superstitious with regards to Friday the l3th. In fact I thought I had quite a good day. The 7 tips to being positive were well received and I shall print them out as a reminder! I guess I am a bit negative – this partly because of my Irish principal who taught us that there is always room for improvement and so I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist but deep inside me I know this does not exist.
Increasing your coincidence factor from your friend Steven Aitchinson was fun to read because I seem to have this quite often. However, my husband thinks that I’m being wise after the event’ which is not true. You win some and you lose some. That is life.
Trust you are doing well this autumn! Here it is slowly getting cooler and the days are certainly shorter. Still we were able to sit outside and have lunch the last two days.
Cheers!
Anne