Math.

I never did like math in school.  Nope.  It required the most attention and effort and I could just never really see myself using it in the real world.  

Yup.  This'll help me perfect my pool game.

I'll be able to draw perfect angles with this beauty.

I'm going to win the next game of Poker using this.

Thankfully, I graduated from High School and have been forever freed from the constraints of complicated mathematics.  Or at least I thought I was.  

It was during a run this past week that I realized I haven't escaped math in the slightest.  I love to go running.  I find I think the clearest during a good long run and I am oftentimes blessed with my best ideas or new insight and understanding to any matter weighing on my mind.  Heck, most of my blog entries are perfected whilst running, which makes it fitting that I should suddenly come to this realization.   What is this realization?  It is that I, Kristen Gibb, am completely and irrevocably the sum of a complicated mathematical equation.

What are the units of measurement you might ask?  Seconds, calories, joules, kilometres, pounds, and so on.  How I invest each unit of myself matters.

Every second of my time invested in an activity equals the order of my priorities.

Every second of my time invested in a person equals the extent of my relationship with them.

Exactly every calorie I consume and exactly every calorie I burn equals my weight.

Every joule of my energy I expend in an activity equals the level of my skill.

Every joule of my energy I expend in developing a relationship with someone equals the depth of that relationship.

Every kilometre I run or bike equals the level of my endurance and heightens my skill.

... And that's just the tip of the ice berg.

Mathematically speaking, life is actually quite black and white.  The answer to why I'm not better at playing the piano makes complete sense.  The reason I'm not better friends with some people is obvious.  The size and shape of my body isn't a confusing riddle.  Kristen Gibb, me as a whole, entire, complete person, is everything that resides on the right side of this: =

Since realizing this, I've done some thinking of what I want to be on the right side of the equal sign.  I want to be a more meaningful friend, more talented and dedicated to some of my passions, a more active member of my faith.  To do this, I have to embrace exactly what is required on the left side of the equation.  This made me realize something more.  The importance of just ONE day.

Days add up.  Seven days equals one week.  Three or four weeks is a month.  Days matter because they quickly become something more.  What you do with each day is vital to the equation of yourself.  It really sucked when I realized this, but there are somethings in my life now that I can't go a single day without.  

I need to exercise EVERY, SINGLE, DAY.  

I need to study my scriptures EVERY, SINGLE, DAY.  

I need to be conscious of what I eat EVERY, SINGLE, DAY.

There are some people that I need to speak to EVERY, SINGLE, DAY.

EVERY, SINGLE, DAY... 

...MATTERS.

Of all the classes I took in High School, it looks like math is the one I will NEVER, EVER escape.