“138!” I couldn’t believe the glucose level had plummeted from a previous high just a few hours before. The experience of hearing that pleasing information transformed my mood.
Today was going to be great. And, it turned out that way. Time passed, this morning I did yet another mundane blood test, the results were definitely not pleasing. My mindset determined that things were not going right for me at that moment, I felt defeated. Then, my emotions plummeted into the depths of despair. However, being the eternal optimist, I crawled out of this self-made mesh of misery. The question on my lips was why should my life be governed by ever changing numerals, to the point of reaching peaks of joy or wallowing in depression?
I decided to investigate this problem by starting with a Google search. I entered ‘why numbers can make you feel happy or sad’ and curiously anticipated what the great Internet of universal wisdom would offer me? I’ve been told so many times that whatever is read on the net has to be meaningful, so I patiently waited for the results. For those of you interested in doing the math, there were 371 million answers given in exactly 0.53 seconds. Amazing! As patience is one virtue I’ve never been able to wait for, I skimmed through the first page. Trusting Google algorithms, which would kindly give me the best results on the first page, I mulled over the new information.
The first entry would have been interesting if I was a mathematician, which I’m not.
‘Here, the number 36 loops endlessly in a cycle which doesn’t end in 1. Therefore 36 is an unhappy or sad number.‘
In silver position just below, I was given an alternative answer.
‘Consider the number 13, which is happy. Consider the number 1111111111111 will transform to it, and hence be happy. If you take away k2 of the ones and …’
I declined to follow the three trailing dots and open that particular webpage. A quick glance at further entries offered me many other numbers that could make me happy or sad. But, that wasn’t the object of my enquiry. I simply wanted to know why numbers themselves could affect one’s emotional equilibrium? Not wishing to search through the other 371 million entries, less those first two, I decided to write this article instead. Maybe actual people could have a better idea? Yes, that does sound far fetched, but we still exist, despite the supremacy of the Internet in our lives.
Seriously, I’m sure everyone experiences vast mood shifts caused by particular numbers. Anything from a lotto ticket or its incredible pay out figure, medical results, dreaded bills, an much more, all have the power to instantly transform our emotional grip on reality.
At the time of writing this article, I’m keeping an eye on the time. If I don’t get my morning cup of tea, with a dash of milk, then that will really put me in a negative mood. Hey, now that’s a discovery right there. A simple beverage can affect my feelings of well being, and there is no number involved.
Whoops, I spoke too soon.
My wife reminded me of the amount of calories in the mandatory biscuit that accompanies my favorite morning drink. And, those calories have a knock on affect on my weight, which can play havoc with my metabolism, which helps control my glucose level by some mysterious process that I’m sure is now subject to total confusion in my swamped brain.
Well, I will reconsider number 13 as being a happy number, and try not to let the remainder of my day be governed by the latest blood test results. Happy 13 everyone!
By David Bannister
