Member-only story
Always Carry the One
Your tally may be way more than you think it is
There’s a simple, immutable rule in math: when adding numbers together, if a column adds up to ten or more, you don’t leave the extra behind — you carry the one to the next place.
But in life, we forget to carry the one.
We count our days in isolation, stacking them like small stones, measuring each against the weight of what we hoped they would be. Today, I ran but not long enough. Today, I studied but understood too little. Today, I tried, but it wasn’t enough.
We look at these numbers — these days — and see only their single digits, their seeming smallness. The eight hours worked, the three meals prepared, the two errands completed. We total them up and, too often, believe we are left with only the value of the single digit of the day.
We do not see the ten that has moved up a place.
Because we are staring at the ones.
The Mathematics of Time
Our days may be in the ones, but we neglect to embrace our weeks in tens, our months in hundreds, and our years in thousands.
Instead, we live solely in the ones — measuring our lives in today, in this hour, in this moment. And when today feels unremarkable, when this moment feels insufficient, we…
