1 in 15 Americans associates Friday the 13th with bad luck. The economy even takes a big hit (almost a billion bucks!) because of all the people who won’t shop or travel or even go to work to stay out of the back-luck fray of things. Some superstitions run deep.

So how do you plan for a day that makes you uneasy? Here are five tips to help you overcome tomorrow’s dread.

1. Face your fear by learning about it. The more you read up on Friday the 13^th, the more it will probably lose its power. For example, did you know there are fewer car accidents on Friday the 13^th, for starters?

2. If you’re really freaked out by this Friday, you can do what a friend started some years ago – keeping a journal of what happened on two years’ worth of Friday the 13ths. Nothing tragic, and a few boons to boot. Plus the fact, a lot of fun things happen on Fridays – did you ever think about that?

3. Don’t feel bad about your paraskavedekatriaphobia. That’s the official name for the Friday the 13^th phobia, which afflicts around 20 million people in the U.S. There are even support groups for it. Henry Ford refused to do business on Friday the 13th.

4. Don’t focus too strongly on your fear. There’s a very popular theory floating around these days that says what you put your attention on, you get more of.  If it makes you more comfortable, put off the sky-diving or the midnight lake swim for a friendlier date. And try not to fan images of car crashes, death threats or job demotions. It’s an unproductive use of your imagination, anyway.

5. Embrace it. Dress ghoulishly for your day, have a Friday the thirteenth party, have friends over for a marathon of Friday the 13^th movies and other ghoulish classics.

How do you deal with or take on Friday the 13^th? Visit our Comments box – you never know whose day you’ll make. Boo!