You may have noticed that today it is Friday the 13th.
In many cultures, this day is considered to be of bad luck. Apparently some people even refuse to get out of bed in case any bad luck strikes them!
There is even a name for the fear of Friday the 13th – paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words for Friday, thirteen, and phobia.
It is also spelt in various different ways – paraskevodekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia. You might even suffer from triskaidekaphobia, a phobia of the number thirteen!
There has been many a morning when I have wished I could just stay in bed, read and just chill out. But alas there is no rest for anyone who wants to change the world dramatically in their lifetime:-)
Nice though it would be to just stay in bed and keep our heads under a blanket in case of bad luck, we do have to just get out there and do those things that really matter in our lives. That way we will surely get “lucky” one day.
Do you believe in being lucky or do you go out and make your own luck?
Or do you believe in making your own luck?
Luck may play a part in our lives, but it really is up to each one of us to create our lives with clarity, intention and focus, rather than relying on just fate or luck.
At the same time, have you noticed how some people just seem to make good things happen for themselves? Such people are invariably described as lucky. Conversely, other people seem to keep struggling, hard as much as they try to succeed.
So what is it about some people that makes them more lucky than others?
I have looked at a number of factors that makes people lucky and have distilled them down to 3 keys to being lucky:-
1. Be Positive and Optimistic
Would you rather be around a happy positive person or a grouch?
No matter what is going on for you, by adopting a more positive approach to life will bring forth better circumstances sooner rather than later.
Smile as much as possible – smiling and looking happy helps, even if sometimes you might not be feeling that positive or upbeat.
I am not advocating going around all day with a goofy, false smile glued on your face, but by genuinely trying to be happy and cheerful even though you may feel like you are carrying the world’s burdens on your back.
Expect good things to happen to you – and they will.
Also being optimistic and positive allows you to turn around any negative situation in your life ultimately to your advantage.
2. Get out There and Take Action!
People who are seen to be lucky are open to experimenting, being out there and trying new things.
Clearly you need to be out there in the world amongst people if you are to attract lucky things in your life. There has been a whole school of thinking built up how one just has to visualise something and then sit back expecting good things to fall in your lap.
Yes, it is good to get clarity about what you want and visualise what you want, but you still have to get off your backside!
“Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Of course if you are already optimistic and positive, you will be much more open to new ideas and situations in your life.
Take inspired action and follow up any “coincidences” – and you will create your own opportunities for luck in your life.
Speaking of coincidences, do check out this excellent article about increasing your coincidence factor from my friend Steven Aitchinson
3. Follow your Intuition
We all have lucky hunches but often do you follow them through? I could share some great stories about my lucky hunches paying off, and I am sure you have your own stories too.
Please do share your stories about lucky hunches in the comments section below – we would all love to read them.
However, what about the times you didn’t follow up on a hunch? What luck could you have had then?
So it is about following up on more and more hunches that you may have rather than letting pass you by.
The question is how can we have more of these lucky hunches?
The answer is to quieten your mind – such as through meditation, walks in nature and spending time on your own.
Find the method that works for you and you will soon find more insights flashing into your consciousness.
At the same time, do not get hung up about hunches not showing up – it is all about taking a light-hearted approach
Give luck a chance to find you.
To summarise, it really is up to you to simply go out and make your own luck and create the life you want.
By applying the above suggestions, you will simply be giving “luck” a helping hand.
At the end of the day, pure luck does play a part in our lives such as when you hear about lottery winners winning millions.
Winning the lottery really is a luck thing and no matter how heavy the odds are against you winning the jackpot, you do have a chance, albeit a small one.
Every week someone does win and it could well be you. But in line with what I discussed above, you still have to do your bit by actually buying a lottery ticket!
So on this day of paraskavedekatriaphobia, why not give yourself a chance of a lucky break and actually buy a lottery ticket?
If nothing else, the charitable causes supported by the lottery fund will benefit:-)
Good luck!
Arvind, I so agree. One of the benefits of aging – I am now in my fifties – is that you really can start to trust your hunches. And I believe that comes in part from the natural quieting of the mind that occurs over the years. If only I could have quieted my mind as a young woman, the trust and intuition gained would have served me very well.
LPC, yes it really is time for all of us to quieten our minds and trust our hunches.
So often I have wished I had been more open – but then again I may not have ended up on the path I am on now:-)
Hey Arvind,
I’d like to add one more advice to your lovely ones: Stop believing in undocumented superstitions! You can easily create a self fulfilling prophecy by believing Friday the 13th is bad luck.
PS: I just realized yesterday was Friday the 13th :).
Eduard
Thanks Eduard.
My article was especially penned for yesterday – Friday the 13th.
Documented or not, apaprently a lot of people around the world are superstitious of Friday the 13th – and that was the whole point of what I wrote:-)
Make your own luck – and don’t believe in any superstitions!
Awesome post Arvind. You did an excellent job explaining how to feel more lucky. I know that many voodo rituals also works in a similar way, where someone knows that soon or later something will happen until it happens. Of course I prefer to focus on the positive things 😉
Oscar, I have heard of Voodoo and also all sorts of Eastern mysticism. I personally prefer to make my own luck:-)
Arvind, I just missed Friday, 13th. I was to busy 🙂 If you look up the wikipedia article for Friday 13th you’ll notice that is used as a symbol for good and bad days. So if I have the choice I go for the good day. But again this will lead to the self fulfiiling prophecy that Eduard refers to.
In medicine this is also related to the placebo effect – and you know what, it damn works, better than most drugs. So why not use Friday, 13th to become a powerful drug of good things to happen.
Patrick, I have never known you not to be busy!
People seem to believe whatever that best suits them so for some, Friday the 13th is unlucky, for others it is lucky.
I really like what you suggest – we should start a movement to make Friday the 13th considered lucky. Let’s believe it to be so and it will happen:-)
Arvind, this is something that has always amused me.
I “claim” to be not superstitios by nature ! I once walked along a busy sidewalk and when confronted with a workmans ladder proceeded to walk towards it.
When I came to it, I stopped short as the workman saw me faltering and smiled.
I smiled back and said “why tempt faith”?
I never put my wet umbrella up inside the house, (bad luck) because the hall is small (I say). When my daughter does this I inwardly feel uncomfortable (but I’m not superstitious)!
My daughter has broken 2 mirrors in 2 years (7 + 7= 14 years bad luck), but of course I shrugged my shoulders, after all I’m not superstitious.
I’m not superstitious (so I tell myself), so I am coming out of my bunker “today”. If you don’t put the bucket outside, you cant cach some rain water.
Life is a mixture of good and bad , putting oneself out with a positive attitude will always bring good things towards you, both people and circumstance and will better equip you for that “rainy” day.
Going out now in the rain (no umbrella/parachute). Need to feel the rain on my face. Need to LIVE. Bye
Fiona, as you say, why tempt faith?!
Life is certainly a mixture of good and bad – we seem to need both. And yes,a positive attitude always brings good things towards you.
Like you, earlier on I went out to feel the rain on my face. I walked about 5 mins to my local newsagent and found 2 badly smashed up cars in the middle of the road. It ahad all happened only 2 mins before I got there so I was lucky I wasn’t there earlier on.
I made myself useful and took charge of directing the traffic around the smashed up cars until the police arrived.
Luckily no one was hurt though both drivers were clearly in shock. I guess as usual we can look on the bright side and at least no one was injured.
Going out now in the rain (no umbrella/parachute). Need to feel the rain on my face. Need to LIVE. Bye
Hi Arvind!
I actually gave a lesson on Friday to my students about the history of Friday the 13th being unlucky which has to do with the Templar Knights who were arrested on that date. It lead to a lesson on another “legend” which was part of the curriculum relating to volcanoes in Mexico, Popo and Ixta which is a love story similar to Romeo and Juliette. We had discussion about making your own luck based on your own perceptions 🙂 Choosing to believe in the positive as you promote my dear friend and sending everyone much light for this. LLM, Mica
Mica, thanks for sharing the origins of the “Friday the 13th” myth./
Yes, make your own luck based on your own perceptions:-)