Archive for January, 2012

Black Friday 13th…….Just How Bad and How Black.

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

As I write this Blog, it is in the middle of Summer here in New Zealand… and you would think of high temperatures, sun and days at the beach.

If we were in drought conditions ( which we were fast getting close to) then all fears have been dispelled….because it is pouring with rain ( heaviest in years) and it is a cool 14 degrees.

So Black Friday for me anyway is something at least a little grey and overcast!

But I am facinated why this particular day arouses fear and concern for many.

And I have found there are two ”celebrations ” of Black Friday …..not that the word “Celebration ” is necessarily a good word to use.

The First is what I believe happens in the United Sates of America.

The idea behind the term “Black Friday” is that this is the day in which retail stores have enough sales to put them “in the black” – an accounting expression that alludes to the practice of recording losses in red and profits in black.

It was originally called Black Friday because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence.

Black Friday crowds hunting bargains can still give the police headaches. On Black Friday 2010, crowds at a Sacramento Wal-Mart forced the store to evacuate when they started pushing and shoving to get deals on consumer electronics. The Sheriff’s Department was called to the store before 5 a.m. to deal with the unruly crowd.

The worst Black Friday occurred in 2008, when a man was trampled to death. Despite being 6’5″ and 270 pounds, temporary worker Jdimytai Damour died of asphyxiation when crowds stampeded into another Wal-Mart (this time in New York). At least 2,000 people broke down the doors, trapping Damour in a vestibule where he suffocated. Eleven other people were also injured, including a pregnant woman. It seems the police have a right to call Black Friday by a negative name.

Friday was always perceived as being a rather dodgy day… But there is no real proof of that. Many look forward to Friday as being the last day of the working week.

I used to tell people we should celebrate Friday as Poets Day…..the day we celebrate the lives of famous Poets of the Past….Shakespeare, Keats, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe…….there are many more…

POETS DAY ..P =Push O=Off E =Early T =Tomorrow’s S = Saturday. ….a great way to have most of Friday off!!

But there still many ( older people anyway) who look out for walking under ladders , black cats and spiders etc and all the other superstitions that bedevil those with a fearful disposition.

But if you take all the Friday 13ths since say 1881…..a total of almost 400…I could find only been four major catastrophes …..all of which could have happened on any other day.

They include 1n 1881, 189 Fisherman drowned in Eyemouth UK, 1939 Bushfires killed 71 in Victoria Australia.

Then in 1978 on Friday 13th there was a massacre in Iran, and finally for the good people of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada a Tornado struck them again on a Friday 13th in a month of 1987.

So why are people afraid…..Why do people live in Fear?

After all the Bible tells us in the very first book of the Old Testament …. God spoke to Abram telling him Do not be afraid …I ( God) am your shield and your very great reward.

For me it is really interesting that God spoke these words to Abram so early in his word. If you look at the words he spoke previous to Genesis 15:1 …to Adam ,and to Noah ….both these cases were words of instruction…..Don’t eat the forbidden fruit…..Build and Arc etc…..the words to Abram were different ….these were words of reassurance …..the same words that applied then are the same words we can take comfort from today.

We are worry worts! People that worry. For my readers who have read my books ( thank you) you would have read a chapter ” Whats in a Worry ? “

I will repeat some of the Statistics again.

Research shows that 40% of things we worry about never happen!

30% are in the past and we can’t do anything about….but forget them.

12% are none of our business. 10% are sickness related real or imagined.

That leaves us 8% that may or may not happen.

So 92% of our worries should be banished to the trash can. Life is not a time to be plagued by worry, it is a time to enjoy.

After a career of some 30 years in the Airline and Travel Industry, it showed me many people who feared flying. The biggest fear is obviously that the plane that they were about to travel on would crash.

The odds of that happening to you are so small….you would have to fly everyday for 19,ooo years before the probability of you crashing in a plane approaches 100%.

Yet Fear of Flying is in the top 6 of all Fears you carry.

(I say you because I love flying and I do not fear dying).

There are 365 Fear Nots in the Bible……Funny that……But it is not a coincidence that 365 is the same number of days in the year…..one Do Not Fear for each day.

So if you are Fearful in anyway. STOP IT TODAY!!!

Make Friday 13th January 2012 the day you have conquered fear.

I will write again soon

Lindsay Walker.

Victorious 13th January 2012

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