Numbers.

They play a bigger role in your life than you think. Most commonly used for mathematics, they are often used to define you or at least elements of you.

Think about it.

The things constantly hanging over your head routinely involve numbers in one way or another.

Take a look at your grades. Decided by how well you perform on tests, quizzes and homework assignments, you receive a cumulative grade point average.

These simple numbers printed on paper or in StudentVue decide whether you get into college and the jobs you will have after the fact.

Since when does my future depend on a number? In the education system, forever.

Consider your weight. No matter what that number on the scale is, you aren’t satisfied. A simple two or three-digit combination that shouldn’t matter dictates your self-esteem.

Look at your bank statement. If it doesn’t matter to you now, it certainly will later that you have a balance of $7.12 in your checking account. What do you need to pay for that your parents don’t already buy for you? Once you leave the nest that was built for you during adolescence, you’re in deep waters with student loans, car payments, rent and utility bills.

With numbers being as important as society makes them, it’s only up to you to not let them be the definition of a human being.

Instead of characterizing people by a numerical measure that can’t be attained, fixate on positive qualities of yourself as well as others.

Say someone gets a 36 on the ACT. Don’t label them as a “36” — look at them as a person who has worked incredibly hard for what they have earned.

Learn to view people as a bunch of little details that create individuals, entirely unique and entirely themselves — even you.

Try your best to focus on being happy. Gratify yourself on other terms than numbers and percentages.