I do like to believe I don’t believe in bad luck or good luck anymore but a few years ago, I was walking my twelfth round at the joggers park when a friend invited me to walk an extra one with him. “Not one but two,” I told him jovially and we walked. As I sat later thinking about the incident, I realized I had walked two rounds extra with him, not because I liked his company, not because I felt I needed the exercise, but because I had not wanted to stop my morning walk on the thirteenth round!

I laughed mirthlessly to myself that day and realized that though I used to try and believe in those days and even speak against the concept of luck, my mind still hadn’t let go of the good luck, bad luck superstitions.

Many people do try to manage their luck, however. So, they believe in rituals and talismans to aid in their success. Though It’s not a proven fact, I’ve still heard that athletes, as a group, are often superstitious. Home-run king Hank Aaron wore the same shower shoes for twenty years because he thought they brought him luck, and basketball great Michael Jordan felt more confident with his University of North Carolina basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform.

Some of us go for four leaf clovers, a superstition from the Druids of medieval Europe who believed that the plant imparted to those who found them special powers to see invisible witches and evil spirits. Others may carry a rabbit's foot. It was because of the great bunny-making capabilities of rabbits that ancient Celts believed they should be associated with luck and prosperity. Still other people speak of knocking on wood, a custom that seems to have grown from a belief that the noise may prevent evil spirits from hearing you mention your good luck.

 Robert Collier instructs that all of us have bad luck and good luck. “But the one who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the one who is there when the good luck comes. This person, says Collier, is the one who is ready to receive that opportunity when it is presented. In other words, luck really does favor the prepared, and those who persist and work hard. "The more I practice," said golf pro Arnold Palmer, "the luckier I seem to get."

 So my dear friends, to change your luck, change your attitude from pessimism to optimism and something good really is around the corner. Then work hard and be ready. When that next opportunity comes, you'll be the one to seize it and make something happen.

It can be your next lucky break..!

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