The Curse That Haunts Me: A Personal Journey Through the Cursed Realms

Why am I cursed? This question has haunted me for as long as I can remember. It seems like no matter what I do, bad luck follows me like a shadow. Every decision I make, every path I choose, leads to more misery and frustration. I have tried to find answers, to understand why I seem to be the target of some cosmic punishment. Perhaps it is my own fault. Maybe I am cursed because of some past mistake or wrongdoing.

At the end of this gruelling day you come home with no other desire than to collapse into bed. As you open the door to your apartment, the lights suddenly come on. Yes! Your relatives and friends have organised a surprise birthday party for you, and your eldest, who was in trouble at school, apologetically brings you your present. A day that started badly, but ended well!

So the successive waves of stress caused by your misadventures have made you guarded; and perhaps as a result of this, you were more unforgiving towards your colleagues, which has in turn worsened the atmosphere in the office, which in turn led to some conflict all as a result of the fundamental attribution error. She has relieved the suffering of thousands around the world by using her unique blend of Japanese developed distance reiki healing with traditional witchcraft to break down blocks that prevent you from achieving your desires.

Maybe I am cursed because of some past mistake or wrongdoing. I have searched my memories, scouring them for any evidence of a grave sin committed in a past life, but nothing has surfaced. Others have suggested that my curse is the result of someone else's envy or jealousy.

Help, I’m cursed!

is a graduate from the ESCP business school. He also has a master’s degree in Philosophy. He works as a customer success manager (CSM) for Philonomist.

Picture © CP

Light-hearted topics at the heart of company life

There are days when nothing goes right: we move from one blunder to another, as if we were cursed. How can we stay calm and avoid falling into a counter-productive fatalism? Positive attitude, stoicism, and rationalisation: here are a few strategies to lift the spell…

Some days, you just wish you had stayed in bed. First, the alarm didn’t go off, then the underground stalled for at least 10 minutes because a passenger was unwell. And of course, you’ve got a massive presentation to make. You reach the office 20 minutes late, only to find out that a colleague has jumped in to replace you and is now taking all the credit for your hard work. The only feedback you get is about a mistake you made in one of your reports. And then the final straw: the school principal calls to ask you to pick up one of your children, who has been fighting… What next? You wonder. What a day…

“And yet, it’s just started!” one of your colleagues says mockingly. Now you’re convinced there’s nothing to be done, and start to feel his pessimism overcome you. Charybdis has left you in a sorry state, but Scylla awaits at the turn of the corridor, at any point in the day. These two sea monsters from Greek mythology represent two very real dangers on each side of the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and Calabria: on one side, a rock shoal, and on the other, a whirlpool. Even Ulysses lost a number of men trying to cross the Strait, in Homer’s Odyssey. Since then, to be “between Charybdis and Scylla” means choosing between two evils. It’s a lose-lose situation.

To think positively, or rationally?

Thankfully, you know a few optimists to help wipe that frown off your face. Each day comes with its share of trouble, and “after all, tomorrow is a new day,” as Scarett O’Hara says in Gone with the Wind. About 2,400 years ago, Aristotle would have tried to lift your spirits with another phrase, as he wrote in his Nicomachean Ethics: “a swallow doesn’t make the spring.” A moment of grace doesn’t mean a life of happiness. And on the contrary, a bad day doesn’t make you an unlucky person!

You welcome such positive and kind messages over a cup of tea (because, of course, the coffee machine has broken down). But you can’t help but worry: what if the worse were yet to come?

‘Be firm like the rock that the waves keep beating against’

—Marcus Aurelius

Perhaps you need to stop rowing and let yourself sink. Not all of the day’s hiccups are your responsibility. This is what Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius would say. In his time (2nd century BC), he had to protect the empire from war at its borders and a pandemic that lasted several decades. So when it comes to bad days, he knows what he’s talking about! His secret? Stoicism, a philosophy that urges us to differentiate between the things that depend on us (on which we can act), and those which are beyond our control, namely twists of fate. So try to overcome the obstacles that depend on you; as for the rest, try to accept them without too much emotion, and if possible, take them with a sense of humour. Try to be “firm like the rock that the waves keep beating against,” he writes in his Meditation, and don’t fall apart at the first annoyance.

Beware of your bias

You answer that it’s difficult to apply such Stoicism when the whole world seems to be against you. Take your boss, she’s been complaining about you all morning – that can’t be a coincidence! In reality, it’s unlikely that you have fallen prey to a conspiracy, but your mind is probably playing tricks on you. Namely because of what we call the “fundamental attribution error”: a cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate the weight of a person’s character or free will in their behaviour, whilst underestimating the importance of the context.

‘Our brain doesn’t like to accept that there are entire aspects of reality it has no control over’

For example: if your boss seems off, it might not be because they’re angry with you. Perhaps they received an unpleasant email just a few minutes earlier, or they’re stressed about a meeting you have no idea of… Our brain doesn’t like to accept that there are entire aspects of reality it has no control over: so it underestimates the “situational” causes, related to the specific context, and which it cannot change, and instead amplifies the “dispositional”, related to people’s behaviour, emotions, or judgments, which they have some control over. So relax, and try to remember that there are all kinds of variables you’re not aware of, and which you can’t control.

When bad luck becomes law

Still, when problems are connected, we sometimes feel that a “law of series” is taking shape. No more water in the espresso machine? What a coincidence: you usually don’t drink coffee… Having trouble finding your keys? You must have lost them, of course.

But what if you changed your perspective? How many times have your colleagues also had to fill the coffee machine with water? Don’t you have your keys 99% of the time with you? Be careful, your memory is playing tricks on you again: in the middle of a lousy day, you forget all those moments of fluidity when sources of displeasure weren’t piling up. It’s always when you have a pebble in your shoe that you remember you have a foot!

‘Murphy’s law is that anything that can go wrong will go wrong’

We talk about Murphy’s law jokingly, but did you know engineers apply it quite seriously, to minimise the risk of accidents? The idea is that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It’s in virtue of this saying that we sometimes speak of “defensive” product design, which means anticipating all the possible ways in which the user could misuse a device, and designing it in such a way as to make this misuse impossible or minimise the negative consequences. Say you still struggled for ten minutes to insert your USB key. That’s because it was designed not to fit when you hold it upside down, so you don’t break it.

The problem is that daily life is made up of improvisation and these avalanches of small annoyances can turn into big crises. Especially that in popular culture, Murphy’s law has its corollary, known as Sod’s law: if you’re already facing a problem, an additional annoyance will always come and make the situation worse. So not only does the worst happen, but the worst leads to… the worst! So what’s the point of trying to get out of it?

Time to bounce back

What if your day ended up getting worse because, based on those early morning skirmishes, you decided that it was going to be? Our perception of events often affects us more than reason. So the successive waves of stress caused by your misadventures have made you guarded; and perhaps as a result of this, you were more unforgiving towards your colleagues, which has in turn worsened the atmosphere in the office, which in turn led to some conflict – all as a result of the fundamental attribution error. And so you conclude: “I knew it! This day is just awful!” Your belief that you’re having a horrible day may have led you, paradoxically, to prove yourself right: you have fallen into the trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Office life has its ups and downs, but they never last long. When difficulties arise, strive to overcome them by 1) being kind to yourself, 2) taking them at face value, and 3) placing them in a very specific context. In doing so, far from locking yourself into a vicious circle of negativity, you will remain open to all the little pleasures that your professional life offers, but also and most importantly, to opportunities that it’s within your power to seize.

At the end of this gruelling day you come home with no other desire than to collapse into bed. As you open the door to your apartment, the lights suddenly come on. Yes! Your relatives and friends have organised a surprise birthday party for you, and your eldest, who was in trouble at school, apologetically brings you your present. A day that started badly, but ended well!

They say that someone has cast a dark spell on me, wishing me harm and suffering. But who would want to curse me? I am an ordinary person, with no enemies or rivals that I know of. Could it be that my curse is simply a matter of chance? That I am one of the unlucky few who are destined to suffer in this life? It is a bleak and disheartening thought, but one that I cannot easily dismiss. Whatever the cause of my curse, it is clear that it has left a mark on my life. I have lost loved ones, missed opportunities, and endured countless hardships. It feels like I am trapped in a never-ending cycle of despair, unable to break free. But despite all the pain and suffering, I refuse to give up. I will continue to search for answers, to look for ways to break this curse and find happiness. I will not let myself be defined by this supposed curse, but rather by my resilience and determination to overcome it. In the end, perhaps the answer to why I am cursed is not as important as how I choose to respond to it. Maybe the true curse is not the misfortune that befalls me, but the belief that I am powerless to change my circumstances. I will not accept this curse as my fate, but rather as a challenge to prove my strength and resilience. And so, I will continue to fight, to believe in a brighter future despite all evidence to the contrary. I will not be defeated by this curse, but rather grow stronger because of it. Whether it is a matter of fate, envy, or chance, I refuse to let this curse define me..

Reviews for "Cursed Objects: Tales of Haunted Items and Their Unfortunate Owners"

1. Jane - 1 star - I was really disappointed with "Why am I cursed". The plot was weak and confusing, and the characters lacked depth. I couldn't connect with any of them, and their motivations were unclear. The writing style was also lackluster, with simple and predictable language. Overall, it felt like the author didn't put much effort into creating an engaging story. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for a captivating read.

2. Mark - 2 stars - "Why am I cursed" had potential, but it ultimately fell short for me. The premise was interesting, but the execution left much to be desired. The pacing was inconsistent, with slow and dragging sections followed by rushed and confusing ones. The dialogue felt unnatural and forced, making it difficult to become invested in the conversations. Additionally, the resolution of the curse was underwhelming and lacked creativity. While I appreciate the effort the author put into this book, I found it to be lacking in many areas.

3. Sarah - 2 stars - I found "Why am I cursed" to be a disappointment. The story had an intriguing premise, but the execution was lacking. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked development, making it hard to care about their fates. The writing style was also not to my taste, with overly descriptive prose that felt excessive and slowed down the pace of the book. The plot seemed predictable and lacked any real surprises. Overall, I felt like I was just going through the motions while reading this book, and it failed to leave a lasting impression.

4. Tom - 1 star - "Why am I cursed" was simply not enjoyable to read. The writing was juvenile, with simplistic sentences and a lack of sophistication. The plot felt disjointed and poorly thought out, with unresolved subplots and loose ends. The characters were flat and unrelatable, lacking any depth or complexity. I struggled to find any redeeming qualities in this book and would not recommend it to anyone looking for a well-crafted and engaging story.

The Science of Curses: Examining the Psychological and Paranormal Factors