Friday 13th; lucky or unlucky?

FOLKLORE

As with most folklore, it isn’t always easy to determine origin as this often transcends generations.  Take a look at just some of the most famous sayings. The number 13 and its mythical powers is no exception although it’s believed to originate way back in that ancient text known as ‘the bible’, specifically, the part featuring Judas, who betrays Jesus. It is believed that Judas was the 13th guest to sit down at the last supper.

DINNER PARTY GUESTS

Even today,  a 13th dinner party guest is believed to be unlucky and some have gone as fas as seating a teddy bear at their table to even out the numbers.  The 13th guest (which is now sounding more and more like another book title)  also played havoc in Norse mythology, where a guest caused the world to be plunged into darkness, and then there’s the most famous ‘Black Friday’ of stock market crash fame.  Now, some buildings do not have a 13th floor, some hotels have no 13th room and some airlines no  flight 13 (wow, just the sound of that is enough to make one cancel tickets).

LUCKY FOR SOME

On the other hand,  the number 13 is lucky is many countries. For example, in Italy, the number 13 is considered to be a lucky number. In fact, it’s somewhat interesting that I started the day yesterday by having a conversation with my Mother about the fact that it was Friday 13th  and I expected it to be an unlucky day whilst she, being an Italian, thought  it would be a lucky day.

UNLUCKY FRIDAY

So what about Friday? Well, in Britain, it’s the ‘unlucky’ Hangman’s Day, the day upon which most hangings were scheduled to take place.The antithesis  to this of course is Good Friday which, as its name suggests is a very lucky day. Indeed, to be born on Good Friday is considered to be very lucky.

LUCKY FOR ME

Whatever your belief,  Friday the 13th January 2012 proved to be a very lucky day for me.  It started off with me receiving an email from  an Executive Producer at ITV Studios, who produces a show for Sky Atlantic, very kindly including a sound file of the theme tune to The Devil’s Dinner Party and granting us exclusive permission to use it for Casa Bella’s Devil’s Dinner Party which is due to take place on the 18th February 2012 with yours truly playing that part of the devileseque host (as if). The producer went on to wish us the best of luck and ask for pictures of the evening. (Yes, note to all out guests) ;-). Thanks Amanda!

The day then continued  with a bit of the usual wrangling and frustrated negotiations about a momentous business deal that I’d been working on for nearly a year. The pressure of which was brought to bear mostly in the past few months where, but for one signature, we were unable to close. Then, at the eleventh hour, yesterday, our deadline to call the whole thing off, the signature was finally faxed 5000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to the Cambridge office of my accountants!  It was then a manic rush to get funds, my butt as well as that of all relevant parties in front of a notary for signatures before close of business.

And thus, after months of  discussing,  negotiating, planning, fighting off competitors as well as traitors and a healthy dose of paranoia,  on Friday 13th January 2012, I finally became the owner, Managing Director and CEO of a successful Cambridge software company!  A bit of a departure from my usual ventures but after being involved with the company for over a decade, it seemed logical, and I am absolutely thrilled!   CGA has immense potential and some very exciting projects  in the pipeline.

GETTING MY LIFE BACK ON TRACK

I’d be lying if I said that the past few months have been easy since they’ve been stalked with insomnia, stress related eating, shingles and a whole medley of other ‘unhealthy’  practices (and  no, I don’t mean anything like that. Remember; to the pure all is pure).  I became so wrapped up  in bringing this deal to a conclusion one way or another that I’ve been nothing short of ‘consumed’ by it but  then, I guess, that’s how people get when they’re focussed.

I’d vowed that Friday the 13th would, one way or another, be the culmination of a somewhat ‘hazy’ few month and that I needed to ‘give it up’ and get my health back on track by hating early mornings; because they mean getting my backside out of bed and onto the cross trainer  and by comfort eating in front of the TV, which isn’t bad in itself but is somewhat concerning when you actually miss doing it!

I also missed writing very much. This blog has been the only thing that has kept this writer fed on the appetite to put fingers to keyboard  but I do miss working on long term writing projects and that’s why now that this deal is done, I can now focus on getting back to one of the things I love the most (in my spare time of course which I know will be limited but that’s okay).

There’s no doubt that 2012 is going to bring a whole new set of challenges but isn’t that the point of life, experiencing new things and ‘growing’?  We, not unlike the company I just purchased, after a period of time are in danger of becoming stagnant, formulaic, in our routines, in the way we see the people and the world around us. From time to time, there’s definitely room for a change. We go about our daily lives believing we’re happy with the status quo but are? Aren’t we blessed with a life to ‘live it’?  Try new things, take on new challenges  and prove to ourselves that we’re actually alive? They say to do one thing each day that scares you, well, one thing a day may be somewhat unpractical but I definitley recommend something at least once a year.

 The landscape of my destiny has definitely been changed, especially when compared to a few days ago, it feels different, brighter, new, unknown and downright exciting!

For me, Friday 13th marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life (and by association) the lives of those around me.  Whether or not this was lucky, only time will tell but so far, so good!