Friday the 13th

I was lying in bed, thinking about various projects, when it dawned on me – today is Friday the 13^th! I had an unpleasant feeling creeping up from my gut, this feeling that something might happen…something bad. I might burn the food, or lose money, or even die. So I decided to investigate…

Wikipedia says that the first mentioning of Friday the 13^th was about 150 years ago. There are some theories which suggest older origins, like the thirteen apostels who had to be twelve and thus expelled one. One source says that the myth around the doomful date kicked off when a book called ‘Friday the 13^th’ came out at the beginning of the 20^th century. The story went that an “unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th”. With our financial world falling to pieces, this could easily happen in real life – no matter which day.

Millions of people are said to suffer because of their fear of Friday the 13^th, ranging from mild states of anxiety to full-blown paranoia. Some avoid plane rides and risky business, others hide for 24 hours in bed. There’s even a pathological name for it: friggatriskaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13.

Looking at it rationally, I don’t have a problem with Friday the 13^th. However, I can’t say that superstition doesn’t affect me at all. It’s a bit like, ‘I am glad when it’s Saturday the 14^th’. And it’s also very difficult to simply ignore the day, given all the attention that it gets. So, what to do?

A basic law of physics states that ‘energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be converted’. So I have decided that, from now on, every Friday the 13^th I will take on the mindset of an Italian – because in Italy, thirteen is considered a lucky number. Transforming bad luck into good luck, just by changing the perspective.

Friday the 13^th might turn out to be a beautiful day, full of success and wonderful experiences. Who knows? Friday the 13^th might even be the best day of your life. Just like any other day really...