Me in 3…
I can sum up who I am in 3 words. I can reflect my life in 3 pivotal moments. I can tell my story in 3 seconds…
Why 3? Let me try to explain:
It’s interesting how someone’s life can so easily be dictated by superstition. Okay, that’s a little too strong. Perhaps, more like, someone’s life can very easily be conditioned—like Pavlov’s dogs. For example, you wear red polka-dotted underwear (because that was the last clean one left) to a basketball game and you end up scoring the game-winning basket. Then, the following game, you decide to wear those embarrassingly ugly red polka-dotted boxers again (you know, just in case), and voila! you score the winning shot… again. Next thing you know, you’re yelling at your mom to find those boxers right before the championship game so you can guarantee a victory. Before you realize, those ugly red polka-dotted shorts had become your lucky underwear and no matter how many of your teammates laugh at you in the locker room, you didn’t care. Perhaps, the first time you wore that underwear and ended up winning the game, you rationalized the results with “it was just dumb luck”. Then, the second time, you won again with those shorts, you were—well, YOU WERE EXPECTING IT! Or why else would you wear those dumb shorts?—hoping to pad your luck a bit more because even though your rational brain knows there is no such thing as lucky polka-dotted underwear, your irrational brain hopes that just in case there was, you came prepared. Finally, by the third time you wore those boxers and your team happened to win, you stamped those boxers as “lucky”. One: ring bell, bring food. Two: ring bell, bring food. Three: ring bell… SLOBBER because you expect the food to be on its way. Oh, how I love conditioning…
So, why all this talk about conditioning? Well, life is a series of experiences—what we call “learning” experiences, or, “conditioning” experiences. You learn what to do at the dinner table because you have been conditioned to behave a certain way. You learn how to sing after several training lessons because your thoracic muscles have been conditioned to respond a certain way allowing you to vocalize sweet melodies. And, you believe certain things are “lucky” because fortuitous events have been associated with those “lucky” things. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying things aren’t naturally lucky. I’m just saying that sometimes people create their own luck by being more confident when they wear their “lucky” boxers.
So I brought up this subject because my lucky number is 3. I know, very unoriginal. Lots of people love the number 3 probably because of its association with the Holy Trinity or being the sturdiest geometric figure (aka triangle). Some even love it just because their favorite TV show was the Three Stooges or their birth date contains numerous 3s. For me, there’s more behind that number. Yes, there is a chance I am attributing more meaning to something as simple as when I was a child, it took me three tries before I could succeed.
Either way, the number 3 has brought me luck. And, it is to luck that I attribute my successes (thus far). I always say to people: “Oh, I was just lucky that the person who read my college entrance essay was touched by my words…” or “I’m just lucky to have become the head of this organization and to have the power to change things…” or “Man, it was pure luck that without any finance background, I was able to get into banking at the height of its existence.” Of course, I know I also worked my butt off to get to where I am now. Yet, there is always that bit of luck—disguised in the form of an opportunity or a mentor—that has helped me out…
I want to dedicate this blog to my lucky number 3 as well as use the number 3 to analyze what inspires me, what drives me, and what scares me. And, perhaps, with that knowledge, I can go out and conquer the world!
This page has the following sub pages.
