Dustbintown

Superstition (Latin superstitio, literally “standing over”) is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to supposedly irrational beliefs of others, and its precise meaning is therefore subjective. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the irrational belief that future events can be influenced or foretold by specific, unrelated behaviors or occurrences..

I’ve just deleted a chain email from my wife, much to her (future) annoyance. Why? I’m not superstitious. Well, not anymore…

I grew up in a household where just about any activity had a Superstition attached to it. Shoes on tables, ladders, cracks in the pavement, mirrors, the colour green. The list is endless. Consequently I spent a large portion of my life saluting Magpies and crossing my fingers as I passed people on the stairs. Until one afternoon, whilst driving Gage (somewhere) I saluted a solitary Magpie. “What was that?” he said looking at me as if he had only just noticed a weird physical deformity ”oh, they’re unlucky when there’s only one” was my reply…

“why?” he asked

It was during my subsequent (pathetic) attempt at an explanation that I realised that the wiki definition is completely correct and my behavior was based on “irrational beliefs” and I decided enough was enough. Since then I’ve broken mirrors, crossed on the stairs and ignored countless Magpie and it has made absolutely no difference to my amount of luck – actually I no longer believe in luck either, I prefer to create my own opportunities.

So, when Karen sent me the aforementioned chain email I was surprised to find myself  looking through my contact list to see if there was anyone I could burden with the piece of sh*t. It would seem that some habits, do indeed, die hard. Fortunately though common sense prevailed after a short internal struggle and I’m still free from the crippling affliction that is superstition!

;p