Assignment deadlines mounting, your brain feels like it’s swelling as your head pounds, reminding you of your night of drinking from the evening before. Walking solemnly to a class, you dread knowing that this is the first lecture you’re attending even though it’s halfway through the semester. As you grace the campus mind, idle on upcoming work, a bird shits on you, everything stops for a moment, and you can’t move. Unapologetically, the bird flies far into the distance, unaware its daily routine has drastically altered yours. “It’s great luck!” you hear as your friends scramble to console you in the bathroom while you try not to cry. Yet, all you can ask yourself is “can this day get any worse?” And it can’t because what is worse? Anything else that happens through the course of the day can be perceived as being better than this moment.
This unfortunate scenario is a reality for so many people daily. And taking your friends’ advice into account can alter how you perceive what has occurred. Once the bird has emptied its early morning worm unto you, your day can’t get any worse. You have literally hit rock-bottom, it may feel in that moment, but with perspective, you can emerge victorious and with a new outlook. This on a surface level is what ‘Lucky Girl syndrome’ on TikTok encourages – a new perspective on small moments that occur throughout the day, with some positive affirmations.
Count your blessing every day, and whether you take a note mentally or journal them daily, acknowledging all the good fortune that has come your way throughout the day is a solely positive affirmation to make the more stressful days feel less frequent.
TikTok users commonly adore to attribute the slow consumption of trends to Instagram reel users, even though many of the differently labelled trends that TikTok originates are most commonly derived from decades-old fads – but is this one of the more beneficial trends?
Well, if you are struggling already with self-esteem and confidence the best recommendation anyone could make should begin by closing your TikTok account. Because the over consumption of highly edited and fictionalised videos on Tiktok isn’t good for anyone’s health, mental or physical.
When tracing the origin of affirmations or how you may be aware of them your ‘lucky girl moments’ are something which is derived from many faiths, most notably ancient eastern religions going back centuries. A tried and tested technique that has great mental benefits but is not recognized by most health professionals.
Affirmations are the core of what has gotten so many leaders to where they are today, through their strong sense of self and belief in their ability – although, it’s only appropriate if you believe it works. And most on Tiktok who post about the trend attribute their recent finical or personal success to the ‘lucky girl affirmation,’ with the hashtag mounting over five-hundred million views.
An affirmation can be something as simple as the phrase, “today is going to be a good day” with that you are already beginning your day by inviting in your ‘lucky girl moments.’
It all strikes me strongly of a story I’ve heard on repeat from my Dad for many years, when he discusses’ his extensive travelling around the globe. He would often say that no matter the country, language, religion or culture there was one word that became a motif through his journey and always stuck with him and will probably always resonate with me. He believes that the strongest word in the English language is “belief”. Once someone truly believes in something, how can you change their mind? This naturally has its pitfalls if people’s beliefs are perceived as being bigoted, yet, the idea remains as you will find they are possibly some of the most ardent believers.
Take this with you though, as you don’t need a TikTok trend to tell you to have a good day, that won’t allow you the freedom, you have to take time out first and genuinely believe it. And that belief in yourself and adoption of that mindset is not something you will find in a sixty-second TikTok. It is time spen with yourself.
By Harry Finnegan
Image: Canva