Growing up, math was always my favorite subject. There was a right answer and a wrong. There were no ifs, maybes or buts. Everything had a place and everything had a meaning. But as I’ve grown older, my love for numbers has been lost and my curiosity for the uncertainty has grown. I have lost interest in equations and the numbers and I fell in love with the unknown.
We are defined every day by our numbers: our age, our weight, the number of friends we have or the likes we get on social media are constantly being analyzed and judged by others. So, because everyone seems to be so interested in other people's personal business, I'll tell you mine.
My numbers:
I have had one therapist analyze me.
I have kissed two different genders.
I have completed two and a half years of college education.
I’ve been in love three times.
I have a 3.7 GPA.
I work four jobs.
I am a size 5.
I am 5’9.
I wear a size 8.5 in shoes.
I have moved nine times.
I am 20-years-old.
I got a 29 on my ACT.
I weigh 138 pounds.
I am friends with 1,072 people on Facebook.
I have made a million mistakes.
So what do you think? What do they all mean? I mean, where do these numbers take me? Is there an equation I can fit these numbers into and the output will be my future?
Try this:
[(Age x Years of college) – Love interests) + (# of friends on FB/weight) + (ACT score + GPA)] x 1,000 = your salary for the rest of your life
That's your number. There you go. You don't get a say, that is your salary for the rest of your life and you cannot alter it no matter how hard you try. Don't like it? Too bad, that's your own fault for having bad numbers.
Don't worry, I made that equation up. But doesn't it seem like that’s the way our society categorizes people? By our numbers. I refuse to believe in the equations. I refuse to believe that my numbers make me anything more or less than the person sitting next to me. I refuse to believe that there is a strict equation that you must get correct in order to reach your full potential.
We use numbers in math because there is an exact answer. There is a right answer for the area of a building or the circumference of a ball. But there is no right answer for the rest of your life; there is no set equation where you can "plug and chug" the numbers.
Because here’s what really matters:
My outlook on life.
The way I treat others.
My ideas.
My attitude.
The effort I put into my relationships.
My memories.
My adventures.
My happiness.
My feelings.
My thoughts.
My actions.
My love.
My health.
My failures.
My accomplishments.
Me.
You are not the number of people you have loved or your test scores. You are not your weight or your height. You are not your likes on social media or the number of friends you have. You are not your numbers.
You are so much more than that. And I just hope we can get to a place in our society where we can all acknowledge, accept and embrace that.
