Saint Patrick’s day is on the 17th March 2013 and whilst it’s traditionally an Irish celebration, people 
to celebrate wherever there is a big Irish community – particular in America, where they will mark the day with symbols of luck, shamrock and anything green & gold. The true meaning is a time-honoured day for spiritual renewal and the offering of prayers for missionaries worldwide.
The pending holiday got me thinking about luck in general, we all know someone that we consider to be particularly lucky – they always win in a raffle, find a parking space as the rest of drive around and around, get a plum job that thousands of people had applied for and more…
The Oxford dictionary definition describes luck as “success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions”. However recent research in this area suggests that there is no such thing as luck, only chance. So good or bad luck only arises as a result of the way a person responded to a random event.
Many people are superstitious and believe that the observance of their superstitions will bring them good fortune. Some people carry objects – like rabbits feet or a preserved four leaf clover. Others will act out something, for example touching wood after saying something they want to remain true.
If we believe the psychologists then the difference between lucky people and not isn’t their superstitions or divine intervention but more the way they behave and in general their personality traits. Lucky people are normally positive, bold, open-minded and perhaps more importantly are intuitive – often trusting their gut instincts to make decisions.
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