Life is not a math equation.
Background:
I am math-brained. This doesn't mean that I like math. I dislike it. Strongly. I would even venture to use the word "hate." Maybe. I got into DU in part because my high school math teacher of two years wrote a recommendation letter explaining that I persevered in her class DESPITE my dislike of math.
My host dad thought it was because I was bad at it. False. I'm good at math, at least, above average. He would lecture me to study more whenever I told him that I didn't like the class, and I gave up trying to explain to him that I had the highest grade in the class. It's not that I don't understand it.
The problem is that I find numbers boring.
I know this is going to have some of you "math people" up in arms. I know that they don't have to be boring. Some people can do amazing things with math. I respect that. More power to you. I'm just not one of those people. Numbers don't do much for me. I love shapes and angles and geometry, but after a certain point, I don't find much space for creativity.
That being said, I am still math-brained. Counting calms me down. I like balance and order and organized systems. I get equations. They make sense to me. I think of languages as formulas, and I create cost/benefit comparisons for most big decisions I face.
But I realize that you can't always apply math to life, especially to people, no matter how hard you try to make it work.
Sure, sometimes you can. An example would be:
[(Hours spent reading) + (amount of homework turned in) - (class absences)] x (effort) = Class Grade
But sometimes you can't. Here's what it would look like in my head:
[[(frequency of shared meals) + (accidental eye contact in chapel)] x (amount of invites) - (number of minutes between texts) ] / number of women = value on a scale from 1 to 100 of how much he likes me
...because that's how the world works. Not.
Or how about this one:
[(scripture chapters read daily) x (intensity of prayers) + (number of chapel scans) x (good deeds)] - (negative thoughts / laziness) = how much God likes me and likelihood that we'll get into Flex next year
Right. Because there's nothing Biblical on THAT idea.
Moral of the story? Equations are great for helping manage a bank account or remember grammar rules in Spanish. Equations are not so great for applying to personal relationships.
People just don't fit within logical laws, that's what makes them so interesting.
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