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Where Numbers Matter




"A lot many things are much more than numbers."

Where numbers matter
Is not where they are cardinal
First, Second, Third.. such as,
The first in class or the third from the end,
Such numbers don't matter to me
And shouldn't to you.
Where numbers matter
Is not when they count
The number of A Grades one 
Has secured- the number of hobbies
One cultivates- here numbers don't matter
Because very different things do.
Where numbers matter
Is not where they brandish
The number of medals one wins
In races, or the number of debates
One has triumphed in, or the number of friends
One has. 

Where numbers matter
Is where they show us
How many times we've been pushed
To the ground and launched
Ourselves back on firm feet.
The figures that do matter
Are the number of times
We have chosen to be kind;
To assuage fiendish rage into 
Patience. Patience in letting
Negative emotions ebb. 
The numbers that make real-world
Sense, are those that signify 
How many times you have chosen
To differ from the crowd, felt abashed,
But held your own, and kept getting
Better at listening to your own voice.
The number of times you have treated
Rudeness with kindness. The count
Of the insults you have borne gently.
The number of people you have stood up for,
Despite staunch opposition. The number
Of hard days you managed to tide over.
The number of well-intended things
You say to people. The number of pleasant
Conversations you've had with yourself,
And how you raise that number, day after day.

I wouldn't bother with the trifles where numbers
Don't bother to be impartial, I incriminate
Numbers of being discredited of their value
When they discriminate. When they don't
Tell me stories that both you and I could 
As well have, when they raise one or the other
On a pedestal and leave the other watching,
Helplessly. I despise numbers in that form.
There's nothing inviting about pocketing
Such numbers. 

If you say that you will bring down
The number of times you hurt someone
Out of envy, and push up
The number of instances you ask yourself,
If what you have done is fair and true,
I will join you in your journey with numbers,
Happily. I will join you in your quest 
For toying with numbers that symbolize
Growth, equality and harmony. Not the score
In your last test but the number of times
You felt like giving up studying for it,
But shook your head, braced yourself and 
Kept going. Not the number of things you aced
But the number of things you didn't, and yet,
Smiled at yourself and tried them while feeling
Like an outsider in someone else's territory.
Not the episodes of distress, anguish and conflict
You have been through, but how
You push them to the back of your mind
Every time they surface as memories.
I want to befriend the numbers that truly count,
By not counting.


Image Courtesy: https://www.inc.com

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