Are you superstitious? Last night we watched the AL East Wild Card game with family and celebrated the Blue Jays victory. As we were leaving to head home they said ” so now we need to do this again on Thursday”. I was surprised and must have looked it because they said “the division series starts and now we have started a tradition and we need to keep the winning streak alive.” They were half, maybe a little less than half, joking but it got me thinking about where I have superstitions in my life.
I am pretty sure that I have practices and habits that I do with because of a vague suspicion that things will go better. I know that I think about a bad omen when I see a black cat but I don’t go out of the way to avoid having it cross my path. I also don’t avoid stepping on sidewalk cracks and my mother is a spry 90 year old.
Even though it is difficult to find a penny in Canada, I do practice the sentiment of “find a penny, leave a penny and good luck follows you all day long”. I repay good fortune by paying it forward and am generous when I receive generousity. I don’t know if I am being philanthropic for a future reward but I know it makes me feel better in the moment.
I have said ” bad things happen in threes” and have witnessed the self fulfilling prophecy occur. I wonder what could go wrong when I walk under a ladder and am careful around mirrors.
Thanksgiving is around the corner and turkey is on the menu. It seems weird that we still follow the tradition of turkey bone tug-of-war that goes back a long way. Legend has it that first-century Romans used to fight over dried wishbones — which they believed were good luck — and would accidentally break them, ushering in the idea that whoever has the largest bit of bone gets their wish. I am crossing my fingers that I get the larger piece this year and knocking on wood so I don’t jinx the possibility.
There is no paraskevidekatriaphobia for the rest of 2016 but crops up the second Friday in 2017. I don’t expect anything bad to happen on Friday the 13th but I do know I have said ” what do you expect to happen on this day?”
I acknowledge the easy superstitions and that I halfheartedly consider them without any real conviction but I have habits that I have been following for years and now wonder if there is anything other than routine involved.
I will be watching the first game of the Jays and Rangers although probably not with family and I will be watching to see if we need to get together for game 2.
Make Today Remarkable, by doing something superstitious,
B
Make It Your Problem 