The "luck" of the Irish ~ Happy St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd tie todays topic to the holiday. 

The first thing I thought of was the saying "Luck of the Irish". I researched where this came from and was surprised to find out it's more an American-Irish saying from the 19th Century Gold and Silver Rush than it is from Ireland. I'm sure there is some history from Ireland too, but I ran with the American version. 

I feel like we are often intrigued by luck. Like if we had it, life would be easier. And if we can find it or get it, we would. It also feels superstitious and unpredictable. 

The meaning I discovered from my research is that it's believed to originate in American West during the gold and silver rush of the 19th Century. During this time, many of the miners were of Irish descent. The saying carried a sarcastic tone as if to say it was sheer luck, not skill or brains, that led to the gold rush. It was a backhanded compliment. Meaning it wasn't really a compliment at all. 

I contemplated how interesting it is that luck really isn't considered anything of value, but yet we probably all wish we had it. Would that make life easier? If we were just lucky would we have everything we wanted? Hmm...

While I was looking through the information, the saying "must be nice" also came up. This intrigued me. 

The saying "must be nice" is also a backhanded compliment, not really a compliment at all. It comes from the person's envy, jealousy, or passive-aggressive resentment. 

That last one hit me. Wow. Passive-Aggressive Resentment. We say something so flippant "must be nice" and we're expressing our passive-aggressive resentment towards someone? Yikes.

How many times have you heard this comment? Thought this comment? Or said this comment? 

When you were the recipient, how did it make you feel? I noticed for myself that I would feel like it discounted all the work I did to achieve whatever thing they were talking about. In one simple phrase, it could almost cancel out all our efforts. 

Who would ever want to do that? Not intentionally anyway. 

For sure, we want to be very cautious before we say something like this. 

But what if we are the recipient? How can you handle this? 

First I want to ask, what are you making it mean? That maybe you don't deserve said thing, maybe it was a fluke? Or have you worked for it, earned it? I doubt it just fell into your lap. 

There's a difference between those that go after their dreams and desires, and those that don't. The ones that don't, stay on the sidelines. They let the doubt and fear keep them from trying. The ones that do, face these doubts and go after what they want. It's not easy. Maybe it is nice. It doesn't always feel nice.

What if the next time someone says this to you, you respond with "yes it is" or "thank you". "It is nice to achieve what I've been working so hard for!". 

Remember, they could have it too...if they just believed they could. 

I always enjoy reading the other common or popular questions that others have frequently asked. The direction these questions went was surprising. It was focused around texting conversations and mostly early in a relationship. Like how to respond in text, and how long to wait to respond, and what is the 3 day rule. I was honestly shocked that someone might be getting to know someone for the first time and based on learning of their accomplishments, might offer a comment like "must be nice". Instead of praise and congratulations. Instead of support and encouragement. I found this very alarming. I'm secretly hoping it didn't mean that this is common in new relationships. 

But it did make me think even harder about if or when I've ever said this phrase. And I would challenge you to do the same. 

Of course, we want to focus on how we internalize something like this if it's said to us. We want to bring the other person up, by saying something like "yes it is" or "thank you" or "it is nice to achieve what I've been working so hard for". This changes the energy from negative to positive. 

And we want to remember that it's okay to go after our dreams and desires. Even if someone on the sidelines will be envious, jealous, or resentful. 

Catch the full episode below. 👇

Happy St. Patrick's Day!