Watch Out For That Black Cat While You Walk Under The Ladder On Friday The 13th
Written by Elaine Wilson, Posted on , in Section Inspirational
Don’t step on the cracks in the sidewalk. Don’t open an umbrella indoors. Don’t forget to wear your red jersey and purple socks to the next football game.
These and hundreds of other superstitions permeate American culture, and no two are the same. Many superstitions are of a completely personal nature: The person finds something that worked incredibly well once—she wore purple hoop earrings to the interview—and they decide that it brought them “good luck.” Or one time, the purple socks were worn during a football game, and the favorite team won—it happens a couple more times, and suddenly, the purple socks must be worn or it will be all your fault if the team loses.
I’ve definitely had times when I knew I was being ridiculously superstitious. As a child, I was certain that if I did not pray, and did not say something just so during the prayer, something awful would happen to me or my family. There were a few times that I woke up in the middle of the night, paranoid because I had forgotten to. I also had a tape of music that when I listened to it, something terrible happened—this happened three times in a row, and I swore off listening to that harmless music forever. Even now, the songs make me nervous, though I know that my superstition was invalid.
Are We Hurting Ourselves?
While most superstitions are harmless, sometimes we let it actually affect our lives. Someone going to a test without their lucky pencil or hat can actually hold them back from doing their best—and it has nothing to do with the inanimate objects that they forgot. They will be too concerned about their "lucky" item and cheat themselves out of their full potential. If someone sees a black cat that day (and yes, there are still plenty that ascribe to this dark tradition) and they automatically assume that nothing will go right—unconsciously, they may assure that it goes all wrong, just as they were thinking.
It’s best to make sure that we rely on our own intelligence and confidence. And if we’re not confident in a situation yet—hello, first day on the job—then be confident in your ability to have gotten that far. Be confident in who you know you are. And then the next time you forget your purple socks, you can laugh in the face of the black cats.
