Friday the 13th today!

Paraskavedekatriaphobia. Can you even spell that correctly by remembering all the 23 letters? Hah! I think the real fear lies in the difficulty to pronounce it. But it happens to be the correct term used when describing the phobia of Friday the 13th, and people suffering from the said phobia (some 17 to 21 million Americans from the US alone) are so affected they can't even get out of bed to go to work today.

LiveScience observes that July 2007 is a very unique month because only last week we had that lucky series of 7s (last Saturday was 7-7-07) and a week after, today, we have the unlucky Friday the 13th. But that happens only if you believe that numbers can influence the way you run your life. The reality is sad, but yes, many people do believe this myth.

Personally, I think you and you alone are responsible for how your life will turn out to be. Being "lucky" or "unlucky" is a mere excuse given by those who have a difficult time understanding responsibilities. Poet Henley made a more credible observation many years ago, if you ask me:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of Circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of Chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.