Friday 13th

It’s Friday the 13th – are you superstitious? I am not. Not anymore. Well, I never was in terms of those typical things like the fear of the number 13 or of the black cat crossing your path from the left. But there’s a whole set of thought patterns that we acquire that are based on the principle of superstition.

Things like, for example, that if you fulfill your dream, you will be punished for it in some other place. Or that you always have to pay for happiness somehow. Often these are patterns that were drilled into us in our childhood or that perhaps made sense in a completely different context and that we adapted over time to something that is basically nothing more than superstition. It’s good to expose these ingrained thoughts and replace them with rational thinking. This has an immensely liberating effect and is what the Kings are supposed to remind us of: be free and proudly wear the crown in your life.

Finding the traps

For a long time I was not aware that I had these traps in my thinking. Only when I began to seriously consider working as an artist I realized that the biggest reservations I had were based on biases that I accepted as facts, but for which there were no solid justifications. I remember very well a therapeutic conversation with my family doctor in which he qualified all my statements with a simple “that’s superstition!“. That was the turning point in my way of thinking. Not only in relation to my working life. Also in other areas, which I went through afterwards, I came across many of these thought patterns, which in the end were always based on some diffuse fears and insecurities. If you feel queasy about sitting in row 13 on an airplane, then your problem is that you have a fear of flying, and if you feel like you’re being punished elsewhere for something you’d like to do, then maybe you’re just too comfortable leaving your comfort zone to actually take the risk of a new and unknown path.

Analyzing yourself is an exciting, but sometimes painful experience, but one that leads to coming to terms with oneself. This in turn is the prerequisite for a good and happy life. It is a continuous process that is definitely worthwhile. There are so many things that we fool ourselves about. Realizing them and discovering and working through the real reasons behind them, has a very liberating effect. Instead of believing in things, it is better to think about the facts, because facts can be acted upon concretely and active action is the best measure you can take against the passivity of fear. 

If something goes wrong today, don’t blame the number 13, but recognize the fact that caused it. Then change it or make the best out of it.

Matthias