THE POWER OF ZERO

Their tired faces looked toward me as I led them down the silent halls and into a small, cold classroom.

…I have no idea what I’m going to do today. I have nothing planned. How will I keep them engaged and provide value for them?

I waited for them to be seated so that I may walk toward the chalkboard, and the only thing accompanying the end of my stalling was the sound of my hollow footsteps. Clip. Clat. Clip. Clat. I turned to the classroom audience and faced the unwavering, empty silence.

I have nothing, as my eyes scanned the room.

My eyes shifted from the walls to their eyes, looking into them one by one. I could see a plethora of all kinds of emotions -anticipation, anguish, excitement, anxiety, dread, impatience -a colorful array of mixed emotions, each wanting to be expressed to their fullest extent. But they were all held back by both a degree of respect and… despair.

Despair… it feels… when you lose hope… even if some of it is chipped off… like you have nothing…

I scanned the room one last time before opening my mouth: “Nothing… I have nothing planned for you all, so what we are going to do is draw our favorite number and then explain why it’s meaningful to the rest of the class. The first 20 minutes will be dedicated to decorating your number, and the next 20 will be dedicated to sharing with the rest of the class. You may begin once you receive a piece of paper.”

The silent room began filling up with the sound of scribbles and smiles for the first twenty minutes. When it was time for them to begin presenting, it was extraordinary to see their excitement as they shared meaningful information with the rest of us. The numbers represented their birthdays, their favorite sports players, and the number of scars they had from events. I saw them feel connected with each other after sharing an important piece of them with everyone. It was remarkable to witness the transformation from dreadful silence to upbeat noises.

Once the whole class finished decorating and sharing their favorite numbers, I didn’t have to ask for everyone’s attention because they then encouraged me to share my favorite number with them. This time, the silence that followed didn’t sound so empty. I said:

“Zero. This is my favorite number.”

And they all looked with curiosity and confusion. “When I asked people in my life what they thought of when they saw the number zero, including myself, they would commonly say ‘nothing’. It wasn’t until some years ago that I began to feel the number zero from a different state of mind.”

“As I observed you all coming into this classroom, I put myself in your shoes, and reflected upon times in my life when I felt some things you all reminded me of. I was reminded of the times I felt despair, and how my life changed when I saw the number zero as a meaningful symbol of resilience for me.”

“Instead of feeling like I had lost something, I felt more like I had made room for gaining more value in my life.  I started seeing problems and discrepancies as learning experiences and opportunities, and then placed them right behind me…just like any non-zero digit would place a zero behind it so that it may increase in value.”

“I didn’t allow the zero to remain in front of me.  Disappointing moments initially induced a sense of loss, but to allow myself to dwell on it would not permit me to add value to my life. And every single time, no matter what, I will continue to choose to add value.”

“Additionally, it isn’t necessarily about how many zeros we have behind us that matter, but what comes with those ‘zero-moments’.”

” ‘This is a learning experience, so what can I do to ensure this doesn’t happen again?’ I would ask. And despair wouldn’t have majority of the control of how I would feel. I could focus on better things while feeling free from the grips of despair or disappointment.”

“And this is why my favorite number is zero.”

“It is not a symbol of nothing, but rather a symbol of value. These are the kinds of zeroes I want to emanate from my character because it reminds me that I am responsible for creating meaning in my life, especially during tough experiences.”

A loud, fulfilling silence followed as the information seeped into their hearts and their wide, hopeful eyes reflected upon their experiences.

🔴 Be Empowered, my friends.