“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.  The mind is everything.  What we think we become.”

– Buddha

Greetings to those of you who have taken the risk and decided to get out of bed today.  Welcome to Friday the 13th.  I’ve put on my hockey mask and had some breakfast, and now it’s time to get to work.  No, that’s not how it goes.  We really don’t want to be part of the mass hysteria that causes half the world to go bonkers today.  I think I’d rather go with Buddha and his definition of the self-fulfilling prophecy that is so succinctly stated above.  We all know that thinking negative thoughts can lead us to making our worst fears happen, but how often do we think of the potential for thinking good and positive and successful thoughts?

I was mulling this as I took my morning walk today.  Suddenly I noticed that the palm of my hand was itching.  Cool!  Someone’s going to give me money!  Wait…maybe I’m going to meet someone new and shake their hand.  Which palm is itching?  Left.  Good.  That’s the money one, because I would shake hands with my right.  I’m not saying I wouldn’t like to meet someone, but I’m having a kind of bad hair day and a little extra cash is always welcome.  I got so caught up in figuring out what this omen meant that I became distracted and stepped on a crack in the sidewalk.  Great.  Now I’ll have to call and apologize to Mom for breaking her back.  It might have been a line, though, so I’d better check on Dad’s spine as well.  And I need to remember to go buy that pregnancy test today.  We were driving home last night and I forgot to lift my feet when we crossed the railroad tracks.  Now I like kids and all, but I’m getting a bit old to be taking these risks.

How many superstitions can you think of that people have passed down from one generation to the next?  ”Sing before you eat, and you’ll cry before you sleep.”  ”Sing at the table and you’ll be disappointed.”  ”Break a mirror and you’ll have seven years’ bad luck.”  The list goes on and on, doesn’t it?  And what is luck anyway?  I like to think that we make our own luck.  I really do think that Buddha has the right idea.

I am fascinated by the concept of Energy.  Every time I think I’ve nutted down all the ways that energy exists, I have a new awareness of another form that expands my thinking.  We act on the world we live in through the use of our energy.  We eat food and store its potential energy in our body’s cells until we need to move.  Then it becomes kinetic energy.  We burn fuel to heat our homes and convert one form of energy to another that produces warmth.  These physical examples are easy enough to see and understand; but suppose that there  are more subtle forms of energy at work that pave the way for the more obvious ones to be seen.

My mind at rest holds a great deal of potential energy that I can focus to form a thought.  Once that thought takes shape, my emotions might become involved and add another layer of energy as I decide how I feel about what I am thinking.  I then make a choice that determines the direction I will go with the energy that originated in my original thought.  It isn’t hard to see how we can determine what we will become through the sorts of thoughts we bring to our days.

Suppose you woke up this morning and looked at the calendar.  It’s Friday the 13th, and you’ve learned that you should expect bad luck today.  Thought:  Oh, no!  Friday the 13th!  Something bad will happen today!  Emotion:  You could be so fearful that it paralyzes you; you could be so upset that you become distracted; you could feel hopeless and depressed and think that it is futile to attempt anything today.  Choice:  If you are afraid, you might call out sick and stay in bed.  Better to be safe than sorry.  If you decide to face the day anyway, but are distracted by the possibility of bad luck, your distraction might leave you open to accidents that you ordinarily would avoid.  And anyone who has been depressed can tell you that if that is your attitude, you will be unable to see any good that might come your way when you are looking at your day through a dark cloud.  The worst part about superstition is the way it feeds on our fear and convinces us that it is true.  If you stay in bed and nothing bad happens, then that becomes the plan for another Friday the 13th.  After all, it worked, right?  And any little accidents or perceptions of bad luck will convince us that Friday the 13th is a force beyond our control.

I prefer to start my day with a rousing song at the breakfast table followed with a thought of all the good things my day holds in store.  We must use our energy for growth so that we can become the people we hope to be.  So cross your fingers and throw a little salt over your left shoulder!  A wonderful day lies ahead!