They Laughed at Jules Verne

Why people eat black eyed peas on New Year’s and how to get extra lucky this year

You have to put a new dime in the pot with the peas and then whoever gets the dime is extra lucky this year! No, it’s not a dime, it’s a penny. Wait, I thought the point was to have no thought of money or abundance and humble yourself in front of the gods for a New Year’s blessing like the Egyptians did? No, no, no! You’ve all got it wrong, the black eyed peas are symbolic of the only way the slaves had to celebrate on the first day of January in 1863—the day the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.

Over the years, the reason behind eating black eyed peas on New Year’s day for luck has become muddled and, for the most part, fallen away. And the reason really isn’t all that important, because the belief holds strong in our current society—eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is lucky, so why not do it? Of course, this is the reasoning behind most superstitions and rituals. Once enough people believe something is true, then it becomes infinitely easier for the rest of us to jump on the bandwagon. If it worked for them, it might work for me! It’s not the superstition that creates the luck, though, but the superstition’s ability to get us to focus on being lucky.

When it comes to any ritual—prayer, meditation, wearing red underwear on test day, or eating black eyed peas for luck—all we are really doing is taking a moment to focus our thoughts on something desired. When we focus purely on the things that we desire then the Law of Attraction or synchronicity or miracles go to work and manifest in our physical reality. So, yes, if you really believe that eating black eyed peas is going to bring you luck in the New Year, then it is likely to do so. But there’s an if—you must continue to focus on the feeling of luck throughout the year.

Once you accept that there are no external forces doling out destiny experiences for you and that you are the creator of your own universe, then you realize how powerful your dominant thoughts can be. If you eat black eyed peas every day of the year, and every day believe that doing so will bring you luck, then you will have a lucky year, indeed. What often happens, though, is that after a few days or weeks of this focusing of thought, there is a tendency to start to feel foolish about the belief. Oh, this is silly, I’ve been eating all of these black eyed peas and nothing lucky has even happened to me. I look like such a fool. Of course, this is an extreme example, but we see this with all resolutions. People start out with clear intentions on what they want to accomplish, and then three weeks into January the local gym goes from being overcrowded 24-hours a day, to being a ghost town. When we don’t see immediate results, we too often focus on the lack of results and lose focus on the original goal. Once we lose sight of the goal or the desire, then it can no longer manifest in our life, and that which we give our attention to—often the lack of the goal (or what we don’t want)—does manifest.

If this year, we would take more responsibility for our thoughts, then we might find that our resolutions come much easier. Instead of saying, I’m fat and I need to lose weight, it would serve us all better to just focus on how good it will feel once we have lost the weight. And then continue to focus on that feeling every single day until we are living the delusion, so to speak. Working out and dieting are often the worst thing we can do, if our mindset is not purely focused on the outcome, because diet and exercise are usually focused on how fat we currently are and not on how skinny and attractive we’re going to be in the future. Only when our outlook is aligned properly, will we see the results we’re looking for from the action we take.

It may sound crazy, but pretending you already have the thing you desire—money, beauty, love, abundance, great relationships—is the best way to get those things. Most people have forgotten how to pretend, mainly because they have been educated out of it, and see no purpose in it. This year, I’m going to pretend a lot more, because I have seen how powerful a vivid imagination can be. The key is to start believing the things you’re imagining are real. That’s the power of imagination. That’s the power of pretending. That’s when the pretend becomes real.

Of course, the science isn’t yet here to prove all of this, but you can absolutely prove it to yourself. Start pretending more and take note of the difference it makes in your life. Imagine how grand things will be for you a month, two months, a year down the road, and just focus on that feeling of grandness—and keep focusing on it, every single day.

Will eating black eyed peas bring you luck in the New Year? Absolutely—if you purely believe that they will and then continue to hold that belief and focus upon being lucky the rest of the year. But, it is not the ritual of eating black eyed peas that brings you luck, only your personal belief that luck is coming to you. You could just as easily say that riding a horse on New Year’s day, saying a prayer, meditating for 12-hours, swallowing a new penny, or anything else will bring you luck. If you believe that it will, and continue to hold that belief throughout the entire year, then you will, indeed, have a very lucky year.

This year, I’m going to pretend more. Imagine more. And focus more on having fun, than on trying to figure things out. Too often, I find myself deep in textbooks or spiritual texts, trying to figure out the meaning of life. Yet, the only time I truly understand it is when I’m out having an amazing time. When I’m far enough away from the dogma and science of it all and just experiencing the energy of it. This year I’m going to focus on being lucky, and being creative, and being awesome. But, all of those things stem from my ultimate belief that synchronicity is working for all of us. It is bringing to each of us scenarios and things that match exactly to our dominate thoughts, focus, and beliefs. Our reality is a mirror to what we are giving our pure focus to. This year I’m going to focus on fun and imagine all of the awesome ways that fun is going to manifest itself in my life.

Game on. Let’s play. Happy New Year!