Believing in Fortune Plants

One night while shopping at IKEA with hubby’s family, mother-in-law suggested I should buy a fortune plant. After glancing at hubby and recognizing his go-ahead I selected one and placed it in our trolley. No big deal, he must have thought. It’s just KD 3.500 anyway (I of course “forgot” to remind him to convert it to our currency). Certainly it would help create a cheerful atmosphere in our super bare flat, I added. Buoyed by hubby’s agreement I began selecting two more indoor potted plants and was on the process of selecting a third when brother-in-law reminded me I was supposed to furnish an apartment, not a garden.

Fortune plants are believed to bring good luck to the persons living in the homes where they are displayed.

Hubby and his family are superstitious. When I told hubby about a gorgeous friend’s suggestion that for good fortune rice, salt and water should be the first among other things that should be brought into our house or apartment, to my surprise, he readily agreed. The next day he emailed me this photo as proof.

Do I believe in these superstitions? The answer to that question is, how do I put this, I can live without them. I strongly believe that man makes his own fortune, his own luck. And with God’s guidance and blessings, he will always have the chance to live his best life.

But as my father-in-law said “di masamang maniwala sa mga pamahiin ng mga matatanda” (it won’t hurt to follow old folks’ superstitious beliefs) - so I can also live with them. If hubby will insist on placing a fortune plant in every room of our flat, I won’t mind. Besides there must be some truth to my mother-in-law’s testament that their fortune plant really brings them good luck because they got lucky in their first daughter-in-law. Ehem.