DR. WALLACE: Do you believe that some people have good luck most of the time while others, like me...well, if we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all? I never walk under a ladder or in front of a black cat, and I've never broken a mirror, but I still consider myself unlucky.

For instance, my best friend was given the lead part in our school play ("Little Women") and I wasn't chosen for any part at all, even though I'm considered a better actor. Will a rabbit's foot or a four-leaf clover help my luck improve? — Kelly, Boston, Mass.

KELLY: By calling it "luck" you're avoiding responsibility for your own life and making yourself powerless to have an effect on it. This is the recipe for losing. You can't ever guarantee that you'll get the lead in the school play, but you can control your own attitude about it. My guess is that you were defeated even before the auditions.

Forget about rabbits' feet and four-leaf clovers. So says a staff psychologist at the Community Psychiatric Center in Santa Ana, California. She maintains that instead of thinking of yourself as lucky or unlucky, you should substitute the words "successful" or "unsuccessful." Successful people have five common traits, she said. How many of the following traits do you possess?

—Successful people plan ahead, anticipate a situation and prepare for it.

—They are willing to take modest risks. This helps them overcome the constant fear of failure.

—They look at familiar things in a different way. The ability to see everyday things in a new light is an aspect of creativity.

—They form helpful relationships. This isn't "using" people. It simply means taking advantage of the opportunities that will come your way through friends.

—They turn misfortune into advantage. When their approach to a goal is blocked, they don't feel sorry for themselves. They use a different approach or substitute another goal.

TAKE DAD'S ADVICE

DR. WALLACE: I'm a 13-year-old girl who lives with my grandparents. The reason is that my parents are divorced and my father is in the Army and stationed overseas. He has been there for six months and will be there for another six months.

My mother lives nearby with my stepfather. I visit her every weekend and live with her during the summers. My grandparents are nice, but I'd rather live with my mother. My father said I can't for "personal reasons." Do you think he should tell me what those reasons are? I'd like to know now, but he said I'd have to wait until he sees me in six months, and that seems like a long time to me. — Nameless, Flint, Mich.

NAMELESS: I understand your frustration, but I would counsel you to be patient and wait for answers until your father comes home in six months. It's much better to discuss family matters like this face-to-face so you can ask questions and receive the answers immediately. This minimizes the possibility of misunderstandings.

WEATHER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CATCHING A COLD

DR. WALLACE: You said that weather (cold-rain-snow) has nothing to do with catching a cold. Why then do my family and I get colds when the weather is cold? - Ellie, Green Bay, Wis.

ELLIE: Colds are caught by coming into contact with viruses. Your family catches more colds in cold weather, partly because they are indoors a great deal and in close contact with one another.

An easy way to slow down the cold virus is to wash hands as often as possible because it's the hands that usually touch things that are contaminated.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.