Just My Luck
I think my Dad might have been Chinese in a past life.
It's funny how I only started to notice recently. I mean, for the longest time, his closest friends have always been Chinese, he loves doing business with the Chinese, heck, he even knows how to speak Chinese (just Mandarin really, but still).
His fascination for the Chinese probably goes way back to our days in Saudi, where he and my Mom used to work as a doctor and a nurse, respectively. During our time there (majority of which I can no longer remember), Chinese and Filipinos all moved in the same crowd. The doctors and nurses who were there the day I was born were Chinese. So, it was no surprise that a good number of my Ninongs and Ninangs during my christening were Chinese. Xiao Adong they called me, or Little Eddie. Not only that, I even have a photo (my very 1st Christmas I think it was) where I was being carried by a Chinese Santa Claus! With that much exposure to the Chinese, how can you not help turning Chinese yourself?
The influence of the Chinese culture is very evident in our family. You'll find various artifacts in our home, from the Laughing Buddha to the Jade Toad with a coin in the mouth. And for a good number of years now, my parents have been sort of "guided" by Feng Shui. Well, they're really superstitious to begin with so I guess it was just a matter of time before Feng Shui became a full-fledged member of the family. I had my reservations about this, of course, having been educated in a Catholic school that taught me that believing in superstitions was a sin (any serious advocate of Feng Shui, however, will contest that their beliefs are far from mere superstition).
I was born in 1981, year of the Rooster. I never really paid much attention to the significance of this until early last year. Following Feng Shui tradition -- and my folks were very keen on pointing this out -- 2005 was supposedly not a very good year for me.
Intriguing but true enough, it wasn't. I suffered from financial difficulties and I was having a professional crisis, among other problems. I just couldn't seem to get my act together.
Fortunately, I was still blessed enough to get past those towards the end of the year. This year, they say, is a much better year for Roosters. The 2nd quarter hasn't even started yet and it seems my luck could actually be changing for the better. For starters, I won four invites to the advanced screening of V for Vendetta last Monday (I'll be posting my review of this soon...I don't want to spoil it for anybody). But more important than a couple of invites, my finances are surprisingly in order and I'm starting to find the balance I was longing for in my career.
The computer scientist in me insists there is a logical explanation to everything that's happened to me in the past year or so. But I can't help thinking I owe all of this to more than just mere coincidence. Could it really be good Feng Shui? Divine Intervention maybe? Perhaps, knowing my good fortune this year simply pushed me in the proper direction...a classic case of "pyschological effect"? I guess I can't really say. At this point, I'll just have to wait and see what happens next. The fact is, it's too early to conclude that 2006 is indeed going to be a good year for me. The good news is, I've started it on the right note...and it can't get any luckier than that.
5 comments:
there's a bit in one of the LOTR documentaries (i'm not sure which movie it was, but it's on the extended DVD version), where a Tolkien scholar talks about one of Tolkien's theories on fiction...
(I can't remember the word for it, "ur-catastrophe"? basta...)
that basically things go from bad to worse, then to "even worse still", and can keep on getting worse until finally, nature demands that things finally take a turn and get better.
(also commonly known as "hitting rock bottom, and there's no where to go but up")
i have absolutely no idea why i've shared this bit of trivial geek information.
but yeah, 2005 pretty much sucked as a year. and I'm a monkey, at that.
must be a long lost nefut shoti :D
more good luck, more balance for this year.
I think what you're looking for is autosuggestion. It's repeating an idea to yourself until you believe it. Works both ways: positive and negative. The original idea may not come from you but in the back of your mind it just keeps on popping up, just like your 2005-06 example. Maybe it affected you because it came from your parents.
By the way, I've been doing the part (in the article) where you read a statement (describing how you want to be) repeatedly until you fall asleep. Sounds corny at first, but what I've written is slowly becoming true. It's more amazing if what you've written seems impossible. ;)
Pwede nating mapag-usapan ito kapag nagkita-kita ulit tayo, hehe. :)
Hi Mr. Ejay. I was born in the year of the rooster as well, and like you, I had a really bad year in 2005. And things are indeed looking better, in the general sense. Feng shui or Jon's theory of nowhere-to-go-but-up? Doesn't really matter, just glad that storm is over. ;)
Hi Ejay! I think it's simple: If you think you'll be lucky, you will be.
Peejay, bago yung technique about repeating something til you fall asleep ah. Ma-try nga. I badly need it :)
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