I know it is a mental thing for me, as in subconcious sugestion. As a child my mom would relate numerous superstitions to me from the "old country". One that I defied several times and sufferred negatively each time was the, "sing before breakfast you will cry before supper".
I used to knock on wood, but with it being used less and less in work place environments I stopped.
Oh and I don't watch the Gators play live on tv. I will listen in the other room and watch the replays.
Yeah, the whole "Don't Jinx me and talk about too soon" . . . Occasionally "Knock on Wood", but mostly to illustrate how important something is to me.
I try to avoid cracks in the sidewalk.
When I was younger, yes---Step on a crack, break your mother's back; spill salt, throw it over your shoulder; etc. And some from childhood as an adult when I was experiencing for the first time----sort of like "Oh, I know what to do immediately---and you do it without really thinking."
But I only do each once unless I'm passing on a tradition.
If I see a penny on the floor and it's heads up I pick it up because it always turns out I need that ONE penny (such as that one penny is the cent in a total of say 2.06 or 9.99 and I only have 3 pennies had I not picked up that heads up penny.) If the penny is tails up I leave it cuz if I pick it up I will be one penny short! Lol!
If I put an item of clothing on backward, I still get a twinge of " Oh no ! " It is a left over superstition from my childhood.
Break a mirror 7 years bad luck?
Black cat crosses your path, turn around?
Don't walk under ladders?
I strangely do the exact opposite of a lot of superstitions. I love black cats, I liek swimming even when food is available, and I liek spiders regardless of whether they're seen in the evening or morning :3