Time, money, intelligence. Why is it that everything we ever want is measured in numbers?
Ever since the dawn of time, man has been obsessed with numbers. The kings of old would attack bordering kingdoms to magnify his territory. People would count their sheeps and their servants, and the one with most belongings are considered ‘to be envied’. We dreamt of living in houses and building things that reach the clouds. Thus they started counting…how much bricks, how much mortar, how high we can climb the skies. The brilliant minds would wonder at the phase of the moon, at the shadows on the ground, and start counting the years, the months, the days, the minutes, and finally the seconds of our lifetime. And while that has been a blessing, it also comes with a curse.
Man becomes the slave of numbers. Nothing is really important unless it has been measured.
We work and work to achieve numbers in a paper, which we consequently put in this place called a ‘bank’. Some believe that the more numbers there is, the happier you will be. We never stop because numbers don’t stop. There is no end to our search, and the more we have, the more we realize that they can achieve the impossible, the more we work.
We study and study to get the highest mark in our report card. The higher the number, the easier it will be for us to get money, and that will make us happy. IQs are counted, compared, and we are left displeased when we realize that our brother is cleverer, or our daughter is below what society claims ‘average’.
We count our days. There is a timer that is ticking for all of us, and while we used to never mind it, as we grow older we begin to hear the ticking. There are so much to do, so much to achieve, and so little time. We try to fill every single moment with things that will make our lives richer, but most of the time we forget that we live simply to live; not to meet the expectations that either we or other people have created, not to get as much money in our bank, and certainly not to count down the moments we have left. Rather than live a long, hollow life, it’s better to have a short but happy one. I recently lost a loved one, but she lived her life to the fullest…loved and was loved, wrote a book, and taught me many things I otherwise would never think of.
Don’t forget that there is more to life than numbers. Live and love to the fullest. Keep in mind that our days are numbered and that we have responsiblities, but never forget that life is much more than that.
Freuddwyn 