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Reflections May 2015

Phase Three

Superstitious? Not Me, But...

By Arnold Bornstein

There is a big list of superstitions that includes Friday the 13th, cracks in the pavement, broken mirrors, knocking wood, and black cats. I think comedian Groucho Marx pretty much said it all: "If a black cat crosses your path, it signifies that the animal is going somewhere."

Are you superstitious at all? I am not, but when I look back on certain events, it makes me wonder.

For the past several years, my wife and I and members of our family have regularly taken brief summer vacations in a resort area along the New Jersey shore. The hotel faces the Atlantic Ocean, with sandy beaches and the waves roll in like clockwork.

Seven years ago was our first visit. Our daughter, who is diabetic, had a diabetes episode and went home feeling ill. The next year, I came home with bronchitis and had to see a doctor. The following year, my wife passed out on the beach and was flown by helicopter to a Philadelphia hospital, where she had a pacemaker implanted. The subsequent summer, we decided to stay home, after thinking about the things that had happened.

The next summer, we and our family went there to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Hurricane Katrina came our way, so we had to leave after one night to avoid the storm. And the following year, we thought we had lost our medications, so we went to the nearest pharmacy and had them phone our doctors and obtained new ones. Then our daughter found our missing ones.

Last summer, we tried a new location along the Jersey Shore – and guess what? – nothing happened.

We haven't decided yet about this coming summer.

Don't get me wrong – regarding circumstances and cause and effect, I take a rational approach rather than superstition. And some events may be simply unexplainable.

There is a big list of superstitions that includes Friday the 13th, cracks in the pavement, broken mirrors, knocking wood, and black cats. I think comedian Groucho Marx pretty much said it all: "If a black cat crosses your path, it signifies that the animal is going somewhere."

Some office and apartment buildings in Manhattan don't have a 13th floor and call it 12A instead.

We may joke about superstition, particularly in a highly developed country, but world history reflects a heritage that goes back to the dawn of humanity.

On the flip side of superstition, although it has many sides, is luck or chance or fate or destiny or predetermination – or call it what you will. We live relatively close to Atlantic City and its casinos, which adds another layer of mystique to the thoughts. What about luck – good and bad?

Novelists Kurt Vonnegut said: "The only thing I ever learned was that some people are lucky and other people aren't and not even a graduate of the Harvard Business School can say why."

In accidents and wars and diseases and natural disasters, who knows why some died and others live? My oldest brother, George, who served in the Army during World War II, told me the quote, "There are no atheists in foxholes."

There is an ongoing controversy about the degree to which luck may or may not play a role in many aspects of our lives. Is hard work and ability enough to succeed in your career or school or business or whatever, or do you also need luck? And what is meant by the old cliché, lucky in love? Does falling in love involve luck?

I recall years ago that some people used to carry so-called good luck charms, even including a rabbit's foot, but as humorist R.E. Shay noted, "it didn't work for the rabbit."

Who truly knows the answers? I prefer optimism and positive thinking in making decisions. In any event, take good care and enjoy! And GOOD LUCK!

 

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