238

This is my 238th blog post on Blogger. I've posted thousands of blogs over the past 6 years, but the other places I've blogged didn't give me a handy dandy counter so I knew when 238 would come along.

So, why is 238 an important milestone? It's a fun family thing, that comes from a friend of the family. You see, in Rhode Island (where I grew up), the government officials get low-numbered license plates. But then there's a whole series of license plates that are low, but higher than the number of government officials we have. These are coveted plates. Apparently it's desirable to have a plate that might be confused with that of a government official?

So our family friend ended up with the number 238. And he was very proud of it. And then he started noticing the number 238 all over the place. Like a bill would come to $2.38. Or he'd look at the clock right at 2:38. Well, once our family learned this, we started looking for 238. And what do you know, we saw it all over the place too. For as long as I can remember, I've gotten a little thrill upon seeing the number 238.

Sometimes we'll even notice combinations of those digits, like 328 or 832. We point those out, too. We've even gone so far as to say things like, "Well, it's 11:38, but 1 + 1 is 2, so it's like 238." (Yes, we are all nerds. In case you thought it was just me.)

One time when I was maybe 11 or 12, my sister pointed out that we probably only see 238 so much because we're looking for it. We decided to test this theory with another random number, 154. And although we didn't see it as often as 238, it did start popping up a lot.

The point is this: you see what you are trying to notice. Whether it's a silly combination of numbers, or things to complain about, or blessings to express thanks for - if you're looking for it, you'll find it. What are you trying to notice?