11...

I've never really had a lucky number before.  I've never really had a favorite number, either.  And for the last 14 years, if I was asked I would have said 17.  Not because it really brought me any luck or anything, but that's how old I was when I met Kevin.  (And apparently that number has some significance for Tim McGraw, too...I mean have you ever noticed how many of his songs involve the number 17??...it's a lot.)

And even now, as I write this I still wouldn't say that I have a lucky number.  But there is a number that I seem to be drawn to.  The number 11.  For the last year or so, I have been seeing the number 11...repeatedly...everywhere...even in multiples.

It started out with the time, 11:11.  It seemed that every other time I looked at a digital clock, it was 11:11.  At first, I didn't really think much of it.  It was just my internal clock responding to my daily schedule/habits.  I would take my class to lunch at 11:10, and when I was on my way back to my room I would look at the digital clock in the hallway and low-and-behold, it was 11:11.  Then I would go to bed around 11:00ish each night, it would always take me a while to go to sleep, and the last time I looked at my alarm clock it would be 11:11. 

But then I started seeing the multiples of 11 over and over again, too. 11 x 3 = 33 (3:33), 11 x 5 = 55 (5:55), etc.  Like ALL the time!  Then one morning while I was on my way to school, I heard a little something on the radio about how seeing the same number(s) over and over is a sign that the spirit world is trying to tell you something.  I don't know.  It seemed like a load of hooey to me, but it peaked my interest.  So I did some looking online, and sure enough, according to numerology (I know, I know...super sound scientific reasoning) people who experience the 11 phenomena are more "in-tune with the universe".  It is a "wake-up call from the universe".  A "call to action" of some sort.  Again, a lot of hogwash!

Nonetheless, these numbers got all the more prevalent.  I told my mom about it a couple of months ago when she came to visit.  After having that conversation with me, she noticed it herself.  She did some looking and found a website with an article by Uri Gellar.  He had a less "mumbo-jumbo" take on it:  "When I see the number 1111 I pray for sick children and world peace, the prayer takes a moment but it's very powerful.  I believe that people who have constant contact with the 1111 phenomena have some type of a positive mission to accomplish. It is still a mystery to me what it is that we all have to do or why are we all being gathered and connected together, but it is very real and tangible, I feel that it is immensely positive, almost like there is a thinking entity sending us these physical and visual signs from the universe. In me, it activates the power of prayer, love and determination to some how help the world."

Would you believe that when I checked my email that day, the message my mom had sent was the 11th of 11 new messages in my inbox?!  11/11.  I really liked Uri Gellar's take on it.  So now every time I see 1111 or any of its variations, I say a quick prayer.  And considering that I come across this "phenomena" quite frequently these days (1111.88 is my new mortgage payment, the total on a receipt, Kevin had his 11th Fathers' Day the day after our 11th anniversary, 4:44, 11:11, etc.), I'm doing a lot of praying.  Even if it's all just a bunch of coincidences, what can it hurt?  More prayer is always a good thing, right?!

So I encourage you to do the same.  If you ever come across these numbers, rather than making a wish, say a little prayer.  It just might do somebody some good.