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The luck of the Irish!
As we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, how many of us who talk of ‘the luck of the Irish’ know where this term comes from or what it actually means?
It appears that during the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, several of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish descent or Irish American by birth. Over time, this association of the Irish with their mining fortunes led to the expression, ‘the luck of the Irish’, but carried with it a certain tone of derision, as if to say, “only by sheer luck, as opposed to brains, can these fools succeed.” Very derogatory, if you want my opinion, and totally unjustified!
So, is life simply a game of random chance, as those jealous of the good fortune of our Irish neighbours believed, or is it one that relies on real skill and talent for it to be a success?
Consider this list of lucky, or unlucky (depending on how you choose to look at it!), 13 questions:
- Are some people just born lucky?
- Are you often blamed for things that are not your fault?
- Do you believe bad things are going to happen no matter what you may do to stop them?
- Most of the time, do you find it useless attempting to get your own way at home?
- Do you feel that when good things happen, it’s generally not because of your hard work?
- Do you feel that when someone doesn’t like you, there’s very little you can do about it?
- Do you feel most problems will sort themselves out if you simply leave them alone?
- Do you feel when something’s gone wrong, there’s very little you can do to make it right?
- Do you feel that one of the best ways to handle most problems is just not to think of them?
- Did you feel that it was almost useless to bother to do well at school because most of the other kids were cleverer than you?
- Do you feel that you don’t have a lot of choice in deciding who your friends are?
- Have you felt that when people are angry with you, it’s usually for no reason at all?
- Do you think it’s better to be lucky than clever?
If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to more than a few of these, then perhaps your view of life is skewed to one where there is a greater emphasis on an ‘external locus of control’, where you feel, quite literally, that you have little or no control over your destiny and it’s simply down to luck or fate that you are where you are in life.
If you would welcome a way of discovering how to shift this focus so that feelings of anxiety, helplessness, depression, low self-esteem or even poor physical health can be improved, then please get in touch.
Getting a grip to take full control of your life may indeed be scary, but it’s also amazingly empowering, so go on, give it a go, and have yourselves a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!