Luck

or not. It is, apparently, very bad luck to leave one's tree up beyond the 6th of January. Once the twelve days of Christmas are over, every Christmas decoration must be taken down or woe betide you, yours and your house. Given that I have done that every year I have had a house, as well as avoid ladders, black cats, throwing salt, not put shoes on the table, never open an umbrella in the house and cross myself every time a cortege goes past, and I STILL had the worst year I have ever had last year, I am going, deliberately, out of my way to face every superstition head on.

My Christmas tree is going to stay up until this weekend at least, my black cat is positively invited to walk in front of me, shoes are going to live on the table, and I am in the process of finding a mirror which isn't disconnected to the wall to smash. Tonight at supper I will delight in spilling as much of my salt as I can and leaving it on the table where I am going to gloat over it - 'Come on,' I'll say, 'do your worst... Threaten me with cancer, burgle my house, take my car - go on DO IT!' And I shall laugh maniacally at the same time....

Or rather, that is my ideal scenario. Sadly, being only too human, whilst I do those things a part of me, the same character trait that insists on keeping old candle ends, plastic bags and anything resembling a book will be muttering, 'maybe it was going to be worse and being superstitious saved you from a freak tornado in the middle of London, or being hit from above by discarded beer bottles...' (Apparently it HAS happened....)

The same is true of risk factors for breast cancer: I don't show any of them. I had my children early, I breast fed, in total, for over a year ( and that included twins - where IS my medal?) and have no cases of breast cancer in my family, certainly no one in their thirties. Of course, in my darker moments, I think 'Why me?' (said in a moaning, slightly whiny voice reminiscent of a 3 year old..) but recently I have managed to turn it around and tell myself to imagine how young I WOULD have had it if I hadn't done those things...

That, of course, then makes me look lucky so I think, just maybe, I better take the christmas tree down and put the mirror back....

*smiling*

Minerva