Raise your hand if you've ever felt personally victimized by a number? It seems we are all assigned to a variety of numbers that are designed to tell us who we are, what we are capable of and how we compare to everyone else. It's an endless cycle of numerical stratification and it's damaging how we see ourselves. I would like to take this opportunity to speak on a national platform to say that you are more than just a number. You are a unique individual with more to offer than just a part of a whole. You are the whole. I believe it is about time we stop resigning to our "place" and start acting on our potential.
If I started naming examples of how numbers work to confine us, I would exceed my word limit and your attention spans. For the purpose of this post, I will stick to those I feel are most pervasive to our everyday lives. These examples target the very fundamental components of who we are; our body and minds. The first example of the former category is our weight. Sub categories include body measurements, clothing size, body mass index, muscle mass, body fat, etc, etc, etc. Everyone in the entire world is assigned to a number for each one of these subcategories and thus, a new way of judging oneself is born from of the womb of conformity. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to say, "Today, I gained more confidence" in lieu of "Today, I lost/gained three pounds?" Those numbers are intrinsic to human perception. They mean what we tell them to mean. Why not translate those numbers into something more productive?
Numbers also work to categorize our intellectual abilities. Test scores, grades, developmental charts, etc. are prime examples of restrictions of the mind. It's a game of numbers and you can't win if those numbers aren't high enough. But how accurate are these numbers in portraying one's intelligence? In some cases, incredibly smart people fall through these numerical gaps because they don't meet a standard. Consequently, they spend the rest of their lives feeling inadequate, under-qualified, and stupid. Those standards exist because people decided on a number that drew a permanent line in what was "good" and "bad." However, standards are in and of themselves subjective. Again, assign a new meaning based on your individual goals and abilities. This life is too short to live by anyone's standards other than your own and doing so will force an endless cycle of comparisons that are exhausting and potentially damaging.
There are thousands of descriptive words out there that do a better job of explaining who you are. Do not fall victim to a number. Relinquish this artificial serial and let your unique individuality express your self-worth. Numbers are black and white. We exist on a far more dynamic spectrum incompatible with such restrictions. There are over 7 billion people in the world. Each one possesses more potential, creativity, ingenuity, and passion than any number can possibly describe. Why let them?
