The Truth Behind Friday The 13th...

 

How was your last Friday the 13th?That was on the 13th July 2007.Was it an unlucky day for you?
 

I came to know about Friday the 13th being an unlucky day around 18 years ago. I didn't know that it was believed to be an unlucky day, until I personally experienced it...
 

Go back in time to 1990.Back to that Friday the 13th.I was in primary school back then...
 

I was very happy as the weekend was coming. I was hoping that the day will pass very fast as I was looking forward to shopping for toys on that weekend. But then, things started to go wrong...
 

The very first lesson was English. The workbook assignment was due that day. I had finished my assignment the night before and was ready to submit my assignment. I looked around the class and saw a few of my friends standing up because they were unable to submit the assignment.
 

I felt very relieved because I had finished my assignment and was ready to hand it up. However, when the teacher came to my desk, I was searching high and low for my workbook. I searched my huge black schoolbag frantically, unzipping all the various compartments, hoping to see my workbook.
 

It was futile. Every other book was in my schoolbag, except my English workbook. I knew my fate was sealed. Trouble was on its way. I was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered at the slaughter house.
 

The English teacher never liked me, because I was talkative in class and mischievous. Now, that was another good chance to punish me.
 

"Sir, I did my assignment, but I can't find my workbook." I explained.
 

"Then it is as good as not done. I don't care, you are going to get punished with those who didn't do the assignment." he answered.
 

"It is unfair! I did my assignment. Why must this happen to me? I may be talkative and mischievous, but I always hand up my assignments on time. Why me?" I thought to myself.
 

After collecting all the assignments, all those who didn't submit were told to move to the front of the class. I joined the other guys, who were going to go through the same fate as me. We stood in a row in the front of the class, awaiting our punishment. There were 5 of us altogether.
 

The teacher took out his 30cm yellow wooden and rapped on his table.
 

"Who wants to come first?" he asked.
 

Nobody dared to breathe a word.
 

"If no one is going to come, I will pick one of you...Marco Chong, you come first. You are always the troublemaker."
 

I was shivering with fear. Why am I always getting condemned? And this time it wasn't my fault at all. I walked towards the teacher with apprehension...
 

"Stick out your palm, for this, I am going to give you 5 strokes of my ruler."
 

I held out my right palm, waiting for him to whack me. Time seemed to be passing slowly...I was like in a daze.
 

Then suddenly...
 

The ruler was coming down on my palm. I didn't know what came over me, I pulled back my palm just before the ruler hit it.
 

"Marco Chong, you better cooperate. If you do it one more time, I'll give you 10 strokes instead of 5.You will get double punishment!" the teacher warned.
 

I held out my palm with apprehension again...
 

AND...
 

I pulled back at the moment the ruler came down. The ruler almost landed on the teacher's leg.
 

"I warned you. Now you will get 10 strokes." the teacher said sternly.
 

He told one of classmates to hold my hands firmly.
 

"Pak...pak...pak...pak...pak...pak...pak...pak...pak...pak." I received my 10 strokes.
 

I didn't feel anything. But 5 seconds later...
 

I felt the pain on my right palm, and my right palm started to redden. I went back to my seat. The other 4 guys received 5 strokes each. About 25 minutes later, the lesson ended. To my relief.
 

Next lesson was physical education. I never liked physical education as I was never good at sports. To make matters worse, I was always teased for being slow in running and in games. This made me dislike sports even more. But that was the past. Nowadays I exercise and jog regularly.
 

Anyway, back to the story...
 

The physical education teacher wanted us to form 2 soccer teams. It was compulsory to join in the game. I really didn't like it, but had no choice. Better to obey orders than to get punished again.
 

After forming the teams, the game started. I wanted to be the goal keeper, so that I didn't have to run. But unfortunately, they made me a striker. I knew that I wouldn't be able to perform my role well as that was my first soccer match. I didn't even know how to kick a ball properly.
 

Oh well, when the odds are against you, you just go along.
 

My team mates passed the ball to me. I had a difficult time trying to control the ball and pass it over to the other team mate. As I was trying to maneuver the ball, suddenly...
 

I slipped and fell into the drain. Goodness me, it really hurt. I felt a sharp pain on my back and my legs. I had trouble trying to pick myself up. After a while, I managed to get up and walk, but I was limping.
 

After a while, one of my classmates Damien came over...
 

"Wow, Marco, today is really your unlucky day. It is Friday the 13th." Damien said.
 

"What's Friday the 13th?What's so special about it?" I asked.
 

"Friday the 13th is supposed to be a very unlucky day. No wonder you got into so much trouble today." Damien replied.
 

"I see, now I know why..." I started to know why.
 

18 years have passed. Many many Friday the 13ths have passed. But that was the only one that affected me the most. In the other cases, I didn't even realize that it was Friday the 13th.
 

So what's the morale of the story?
 

Basing on personal experience, Friday the 13th isn't really an unlucky day as people believe it to be. As a practitioner of Chinese astrology, I feel that the most accurate way to look at auspicious days is to look at an individual's date of birth and deduce from there.
 

Even when you look at the Chinese almanacs, the days which are marked unlucky ones may not necessarily be your unlucky days.
 

You may be wondering, what happened to my workbook...
 

I lost it. When I got home, I couldn't find it. It just disappeared mysteriously. I had to buy a new workbook and redo everything from the start.
 

Before I end...do you want to know what is the secret to making everyday your lucky day?
 

Will you practice it if I tell you? Will you share this secret with your friends and loved ones? I think you would...
 

Here you are...just be grateful. Be grateful for everything you have. Your health, your family, your friends and whatever you treasure. No matter how bad or how unlucky you feel, just remind yourself that you have a lot of things to be grateful for.