good luck thinking

I once got this idea from an Amy Tan book: make decisions based on hoping for the desired outcome. She called this "good luck thinking" and if I remember correctly, a common philosophy in the Chinese culture. For example, there is a 20% chance of rain, you really don't want it to rain, so you walk out the door with no umbrella. This is good luck thinking.

Sort of the opposite to the way I, many of us, often think, with the fret of "jinxing it", the habit of knocking on wood and the like.

In either case, they are both superstitions, thus stupid, and I must remind myself of this on a constant basis... they are not real. I believe I have finally trained myself to ignore such silliness, I only avoid walking under ladders because it's a physical hazard.

But I still like good luck thinking. I see it as the "glass half-full"-way of toying with possibilities.

The only problem is that good luck thinking doesn't really work when your options don't quite weigh out with the pros and cons, when passion and reason can't find a compromise, when external, unavoidable forces push you in ways you don't want to go.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING NEXT YEAR. CAN'T GOOD LUCK THINK.