Look out! Today is Friday the 13th and that means we all need to watch out for black cats, be careful around mirrors, and make sure we’re walking around ladders instead of underneath them. In fact, we’d better stay inside all day just to be safe! After all, we don’t want some lunatic in a hockey mask to chase after us with a machete.
Maybe that is a little extreme… but it is hard not to buy into all of the hype around this purportedly "unlucky day". Everything that goes wrong on this unfortunate Friday has a convenient scapegoat. Stuck in traffic and late to work? Must be Friday the 13th. Step in a puddle? Must be Friday the 13th. Spill hot coffee on yourself? That darn Friday the 13th!
Do we really have more bad luck on one particular day or do we just need to shift our perspective? Let’s talk about the wonderfully remarkable things that have happened on Friday the 13th.
July 13, 1923: the first dinosaur eggs were discovered by Roy Chapman Andrews.
October 13, 1939: Evelyn “Pinky” Kilgare-Brier become the first woman to receive an airplane instructor’s license.
December 13, 2019: I facilitated a firm retreat for a law firm.
These are just a few of the great moments in history that took place on Friday the 13th. There are even more-- all you have to do is look. That’s the thing about luck, you only see the kind of luck you focus your attention on. If you spend the day tallying up all of the bad things that happen to you, of course you will perceive the whole day as a bad one.
What if instead of looking out for all the bad, we changed our perspective and spent the day watching for the good things that happen? A complete stranger held the door for you when your hands were full? Must be Friday the 13th! The deadline you were worried about was pushed back? Must be Friday the 13th! Tomorrow is Saturday? Thank God it’s Friday the 13th!