I've been hearing this phrase a lot lately..."Well just remember, the third time is the charm." I guess if I was British, people would be saying "Three times lucky." But this got me thinking, why is the third time of trying to do something supposed to be that magical time when the Heavens open and rays of light rain down on you as you have one of those epiphany moments when everything just comes together the way you want?
Is the number "3" considered lucky? Well, that depends on where you are. In China, that's a big fat yes. Three is a lucky number. It's a prime number; the Chinese pronounciation of "three" sounds like the pronounciation of the word "life" and since living is lucky, three is lucky; nine is evenly divided into three parts by three; in laying out your home, putting things in threes or in a triangle is very fung shui.
But this saying didn't come from China; it's a British/American saying. In World War I, doing something three times wasn't considered lucky because it might give German snipers time to see you, target you and shoot you. Plus, there was also the belief that deaths came in threes.
The saying itself comes even further back from that though. In the late 1800's, West Country sailor John Babbacombe Lee was arrested and convicted of murdering Emma Keyse. He was sentenced to death by hanging. The first time, the rope broke. The second time, the scaffold broke. The third time, I'm not sure how he did it, but bad boy John didn't die. According to English Common Law, the sentence had been carried out so a judge commuted it to life in prison. He did get out years later on parole for good behavior and lived until 1940.
I'm not really sure if I can say that the third time truly is the charm but if I'm ever sentenced to hanging, I certainly hope that the folks acting out my sentence are as good as the ones in charge of John Lee's.
How about you? Have you ever had anything in your life where you could say the third time was the charm? Tell us in the comments.
It's certainly interesting. Just the other day I tried fixing my car's leaking radiator with a soldering iron and quik fix.
ReplyDeleteWatching youtube videos, I took a stab at DIY. The first and second time the leak persisted. It was the third time where i had gotten the technique down to fix it and 2 months later no leaks.
I'm using the power of 3's to work in other areas of my life as well.
I think there's something definitely mysterious about the 3's.
Divine intervention from God perhaps.
It's certainly interesting. Just the other day I tried fixing my car's leaking radiator with a soldering iron and quik fix.
ReplyDeleteWatching youtube videos, I took a stab at DIY. The first and second time the leak persisted. It was the third time where i had gotten the technique down to fix it and 2 months later no leaks.
I'm using the power of 3's to work in other areas of my life as well.
I think there's something definitely mysterious about the 3's.
Divine intervention from God perhaps.
It's certainly interesting. Just the other day I tried fixing my car's leaking radiator with a soldering iron and quik fix.
ReplyDeleteWatching youtube videos, I took a stab at DIY. The first and second time the leak persisted. It was the third time where i had gotten the technique down to fix it and 2 months later no leaks.
I'm using the power of 3's to work in other areas of my life as well.
I think there's something definitely mysterious about the 3's.
Divine intervention from God perhaps.