Spring Break
The number 43 brings student hope in tough times
Sophia Shah
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: OPINION
When I was about 12 years old, I developed an instinctive nature to glance at the clock at 10:43 and wake up without an alarm at 6:43 a.m.
I overlooked the number at first, claiming it was a coincidence. However, when I purchased an item and received 43 cents in change or my tax cost me an additional 43 cents, I stopped complaining about the sound of loose change in my pocket and the outrageous tax rate of 8.25 percent.
When I drove impatiently to work and the car in front of me displayed a 43 in the license plate, I was captivated. Suddenly, it was as if being late to work wasn't something to stress about. This number was trailing me like a shadow, reminding me that panicking wouldn't solve anything.
Most people rarely experience a moment when they feel they are free from skepticism. However, I am fortunate enough to have encountered something liberating, but the actual misfortune is that most people seldom face this sort of elevation. What lifted me was an effortless impulse to believe, a little imagination and the huge effect of the number 43.
When people first hear this legend, their initial reaction is a mocking smirk. People have tried to convince me that it's an illusion my head concocted or a mind game. At one point, I believed it was the spirits at work or the effort of angels.
I immediately shun scientific theories based on the frequency of numbers. If they are true, I want a dependable explanation for the elation I experience when a 43 surprises me, how there are 69 members in the 43 Facebook group who see the number too, how my inbox is saturated with this mystical number or how the number 43 finds me in the most desperate moments. I felt like this number came to me in the only way hope could reach my stubborn head.
Not only does a 43 show up unexpectedly on receipts and clocks, but it is also a consistent reminder that things will be better.
Most people who know me are amused with the joy 43 brings me and how it can ease the concern of a bad grade or a cloudy day. The impact it has had on my friends digs a deeper significance into this number. They appreciate how this number brings a new breed of faith into my life and how it has completely strengthened my confidence.
My phone is flooded with pictures of the number that people have sent me, and my desk and walls are lavished with 43s people have stolen from locker numbers and fast food joints. I have two friends who tattooed the number on their bodies as a permanent reminder that if things aren't all right, then they will be soon.
With this inspiration, perhaps enlightening someone else will show how greatly I've been liberated.
Perhaps if you forfeit a minute to look up with optimism, you'll see a 43 too.
Sophia Shah is a Grapevine freshman majoring in business. She may be reached at sophias43@yahoo.com.
I overlooked the number at first, claiming it was a coincidence. However, when I purchased an item and received 43 cents in change or my tax cost me an additional 43 cents, I stopped complaining about the sound of loose change in my pocket and the outrageous tax rate of 8.25 percent.
When I drove impatiently to work and the car in front of me displayed a 43 in the license plate, I was captivated. Suddenly, it was as if being late to work wasn't something to stress about. This number was trailing me like a shadow, reminding me that panicking wouldn't solve anything.
Most people rarely experience a moment when they feel they are free from skepticism. However, I am fortunate enough to have encountered something liberating, but the actual misfortune is that most people seldom face this sort of elevation. What lifted me was an effortless impulse to believe, a little imagination and the huge effect of the number 43.
When people first hear this legend, their initial reaction is a mocking smirk. People have tried to convince me that it's an illusion my head concocted or a mind game. At one point, I believed it was the spirits at work or the effort of angels.
I immediately shun scientific theories based on the frequency of numbers. If they are true, I want a dependable explanation for the elation I experience when a 43 surprises me, how there are 69 members in the 43 Facebook group who see the number too, how my inbox is saturated with this mystical number or how the number 43 finds me in the most desperate moments. I felt like this number came to me in the only way hope could reach my stubborn head.
Not only does a 43 show up unexpectedly on receipts and clocks, but it is also a consistent reminder that things will be better.
Most people who know me are amused with the joy 43 brings me and how it can ease the concern of a bad grade or a cloudy day. The impact it has had on my friends digs a deeper significance into this number. They appreciate how this number brings a new breed of faith into my life and how it has completely strengthened my confidence.
My phone is flooded with pictures of the number that people have sent me, and my desk and walls are lavished with 43s people have stolen from locker numbers and fast food joints. I have two friends who tattooed the number on their bodies as a permanent reminder that if things aren't all right, then they will be soon.
With this inspiration, perhaps enlightening someone else will show how greatly I've been liberated.
Perhaps if you forfeit a minute to look up with optimism, you'll see a 43 too.
Sophia Shah is a Grapevine freshman majoring in business. She may be reached at sophias43@yahoo.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 25
AJ Landa
posted 4/03/08 @ 1:03 PM CST
While waiting on a colleague this morning, I decided to breathe some life into those minutes by reading Sophia's 43 article on my phone... As I was reading, my colleague arrived and tried logging me into a website. (Continued…)
Kyle
posted 4/03/08 @ 10:58 PM CST
Heck yea. President Bush is the 43rd president!!!! :-)
havok
posted 4/04/08 @ 2:28 PM CST
I have the same thing with 27, my girlfriend 11, my brother 7...I hope you see my point. I think its in your head. =) Good article though.
Iris Love-Hiltz
posted 4/04/08 @ 3:30 PM CST
My own number phenomenon started my freshman year here, in 2004. Mine is 911...I think it's creepy, lol. I almost ALWAYS look at the clock when it is 9:11, morning or evening. (Continued…)
David A. Lucio
posted 4/05/08 @ 3:25 AM CST
#25 here.
43 rocks my socks though, and I still can't believe you found on on my random ass shirt. I believe in your phenomenon Sophia, because we all have our own impact outwardly on others through some obscure numeric value. (Continued…)
David Sindt
posted 4/07/08 @ 6:52 PM CST
I glanced at the clock sitting beside my bed after reading this article and what did I see? It was 43 minutes past the hour. Seriously.
Sophia Shah
posted 4/09/08 @ 6:30 PM CST
Currently, there are 76 members in the 43 group! :)
Ximena Ramos
posted 4/10/08 @ 9:38 PM CST
This is a very interesting article. This does sometimes happen to me, but with the number 24. To be more specific, May 24. On that day, my cousin was born, my parents met, I received my first communion and several other important events. (Continued…)
Joe Tessler
posted 4/19/08 @ 12:01 AM CST
It truly is amazing how powerful one number can be. A single blink of 43 can alter the entire course of a day. The seemingly simple integer has such a powerful undertone that it truly does make one "feel they are free from skepticism. (Continued…)
Jamie B
posted 4/24/08 @ 4:32 PM CST
This is definitely an awesome article, and a far more awesome concept. I really like 43. I really do see it everywhere, and I think everyone can if they look. (Continued…)
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