No matter
how sophisticated our society becomes, superstitions persist in having an
impact on success or failure. There seems to be part of the human mind that thrives on creating little
anchors of "magic" that lift
us up or bring us down independent of rationality. Though the clearly logical
part of our thinking can easily dismiss the practice or belief in superstitious
activity as silly quirks, our less rational creative
mind goes to work incorporating whatever we feed it to gain or
lose an edge in using faculties consistently engaged in solving problems.
Uncontrolled
belief in superstitions can have a negative impact on how people conduct their
lives. When applied in extremes, such thoughts can become destructive to the
point of debilitation. Superstition can be passed down through generations or
created on a purely individual level. Some of the older forms of superstition
like walking under a ladder, stepping on cracks in pavement, spilling salt,
breaking mirrors or other "bad omens" are examples of misguided
beliefs that have long been a part of lore. There are also a host of
traditional counter measures and lucky charms reported to counteract bad luck
and turn it into good.
Some people prefer to practice more subtle forms of superstitious behaviors.
Many atheletes have their particular superstitions whether is a personal
article of clothing or a certain ritual they perform before their ready to go. Similarly,
average people use articles of clothing like a "lucky tie" or
"lucky shirt" they wear whenever going out for a job interview
or participating in some other event like gambling.
Superstitious
beliefs are tied to the supernatural or unpredictable side of events that are
in the scope of things otherwise beyond our control. The difference between
rational observation and superstitious practices is substantial. With rational
observation, we can assess behaviors and methods that either work consistently
or not. When the results are inconsistent, we can eliminate those influences
that had no impact on outcome. On the other hand, superstition works completely
on irrational belief systems where one successful mental correlation
counteracts many unsuccessful results. If our mental "magic" seems to
work once, we focus on attempting to recreate the success by trying to
reproduce the same magic repeatedly.
Sometimes
positive change is difficult to achieve, but it is certain that success will
not be due to anything other than performing
the right actions at the right time. Whatever we do in preparation for that
appropriate timing should be practiced with a clear eye for cause and effect.
Though our spiritual practices can provide us with comfort during difficult
times and provide inspiration, it is how we interact with others and apply our inspirations which will
carry us forward to beneficial results.
