Colin McEnroe Show: Luck
Does luck actually play a role in our lives?
Published: Jun 28, 2010
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Stuart Vyse
Photo:Chion Wolf
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Colin McEnroe Show: Luck
I'm going to tell you something I have not mentioned to anyone, not my girlfriend, my son, Bill Curry, nobody.
Some time during the last 5 or 10 years, I started to get very odd about the number 13. I know, it's such a cliche. You'd think I could at least come up with an original superstition. 13? Please.
The main place it comes up is at the gym. I have this real aversion to doing 13 reps on any weight machine, and as I near 12, I have to ask myself whether I think I'll be able to get to 14 because if I can't I have to stop. I also worry about whether I remembered to count the first rep, the one where you're just kind of getting the weights up and checking the range. Because if I did that one plus 12, the fat would really be in the fire.
The thing is, I'm not a superstitious person. And that's what everybody says.
But everybody's lying.
You can join the conversation. What are your superstitions? Do you believe in luck? Do you have any lucky charms? Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
This episode was produced with help from Jonathan McNicol.
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We all look for cause and effect relationships ... the problem is a bias where we look for them.
-Stuart Vyse
Comments
Listener E-mail from J
Superstition had a definite and debilitating effect my life years ago when I was in the throes of symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If I didn't do things a certain way, if I screwed up a pattern of doing things, if I forgot to mention a particular person in my prayers, if I stepped on a crack in the sidewalk, something absolutely terrible would happen to myself or to someone I loved.
These rituals became more convoluted and lengthly AND PRECISE as time went on. In my head, I would know that the feelings and fears were ridiculous, but I just couldn't bring myself to ignore feelings or stop the actions.
I no longer suffer from these symptoms, thanks to the advent of Certaline, but, for a long, long while, these rituals ans superstitions made my life almost unbearable.
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