My 22 Love journey…
I was around 5 or 6 years old when I looked up at the wall and noticed a cross stitch my mom had done to celebrate her marriage with my dad and the date was July 22nd. I asked her about the cross stitch and she explained about weddings and anniversary dates and told me my grandparents were also married on July 22nd. I told her that must be my lucky number then and from that point forward I treated it as such. At age 7 while traveling to our favorite summer destination I noticed that our phone number had a 22 in it as well as several other 22’s around us in that location. I love it there and spent many special times there over the years (is currently my self proclaimed happy place today) so my love for my lucky number 22 only continued to grow. At 12 on a different family trip I noticed the last road leading to our destination (after a long day of travel and car rides for my motion sickness self) had a 22 in it. I was always so grateful to see that road because that meant we were minutes away from the fun part of the trip and the memory making that would ensue. We returned to that same location every year for 15 years or more. Again my love of 22 grew.
It continued to be my really really lucky number through childhood and college. One of my college besties, Shannon, has a 22 birthday and I remember explaining to her how grateful I was for her friendship and how her having a 22 birthday made her even more special to me since that was my lucky number. I felt silly explaining it at the time but shes one of my favorite humans today and she and I have grown the 22 love together ever since! I remember I barely explained it to my husband Mike as I attempted to convince him to marry me on a Friday afternoon (which was July 22nd) in front of our scheduled wedding on July 23rd which was the date I picked trying to get as close as I could to 7/22. As I moved into my adult life I noticed it everywhere. In the tax id number of our first company, and subsequent companies, account numbers, phone numbers, addresses, license plates. Everywhere. It always gave me pause as I marveled at how often it showed up in my life.
When my kids were very young I was attempting to help them grow gratitude. Since I had just read The Secret and was practicing my new understanding of manifestation I believed that gratitude would grow more gratitude. I was presented with divine inspiration to use my lucky number 22 to grow gratitude with them and suggested that we find something, anything to be grateful for anytime we saw the number 22. From the biggest of lifes gratitudes like health, family and friends to the smallest like the ants on the sidewalk working hard. I modeled it for them from that point forward and they joined in and continue to join in even today. I am grateful to my family for being the first growers of love and gratitude with me and for continuing with me today. I could not have imagined how that would grow it within them as well as within myself as well as gratitude for others around us but it did. The next summer I found myself teaching the 22 gratitude trick to my beach family (11 kids 4 adults) and that group latched onto my idea and exploded it and still do to this day as well. I also spent time with my cousins and their kids and shared this with them as well. It came up since that cousin has a 22 birthday as well. Those children were also instrumental in the growth of this 22 Love. When my kids got older I shared the 22 love with their school friends as it started the same way with one of them having a 22 birthday. The kids were the biggest grower of my 22 seeds ever!! All of these kids asked me for years if I was going to throw the biggest party on 2-22-22 and I always answered a resounding yes (I will admit these promises started back in 2010 or earlier or so at the time 2022 seemed far away)!! From there the momentum to share grew and I shared slowly but surely with each new adult I met that had a 22 birthday (like my youngest first pre school teacher who is still one of my closest friends today) or phone number or license plate. I challenged myself to share with them something I was grateful for about them while briefly and embarrassingly explaining it’s my gratitude number. Again 22 grew exponentially.
Arrive at 2022. An entire year where every day I was challenged to new gratitude levels just by the dates alone. The amount of gratitude I poured into this year was returned 100 fold. A 2-2-22 party given to me by my daughter, stepmom, dad, brother and niece was unsurpassed and so special. Once it was over though it made me realize I really did need to honor my promise to these kids (and to LOVE) I had shared the 22 love with all these years. So I set my sights on 12-22-22 for an all day love and gratitude fest celebrating my love and gratitude for people who have crossed my path in life and to celebrate my love of 22 in my life. It was a magical day that I thought culminated all my love of 22 in this one event. With rainbows as my theme in life and for this event and rain on the only day in a 30 day window the event seemed destined to suffer however the love and gratitude and sunshine that the 130 people showed up with that day created miracles and rainbows in my mind and reality. The stories that have grown from that day could fill their own pages. Now I can see that the party wasn’t just the culmination but the beginning. Everyone needed to celebrate love and gratitude as much as I did. To be reminded of the need to stop and do so and how that will grow more love and gratitude in your life. To share love and gratitude for people outside of a birthday or funeral. Thank you to all of you who have shared your stories and continued to grow love and gratitude with me!
I have to be authentic here and share that 22 doesn’t always marks good things. Sometimes it marks very very difficult times in my life and for those of other people. 22 forces me to stop and find something positive within the traumas or challenges. The lucky part of the number for me is that it reminds me in darkness and light that I am never alone. That I always have LOVE if I only choose it and gratitude helps me make that choice and leads the way there. It helps redirect me when things are bad, show me the lesson in a difficult time as well as being the driving force behind celebration and the journey to joy. The yin and the yang of life. You cannot fully appreciate the love and joy and gratitude of life without the lessons from the dark and sad and difficult times.
Ironically when the number left the status of just a “lucky” number it started as a green light number (look mom I’m so grateful for this shirt that is 22 dollars we should get it) then moved to a yellow light number for many years meaning I would always slow down when I saw it and look at how I could apply love and gratitude to the situation. Since my first inclination is to move quickly and quick movements don’t always bring my best decisions I was very grateful for signs to slow down. In communication, in driving, in decisions. Maybe I was in a traffic jam behind a car with a 22 in it. Once I saw it I changed my attitude to be grateful I was not the cause of the traffic jam and hope all involved were safe. Or to be grateful a tow truck was almost there to aid in the removal of the accident. Or to be grateful for the police officers racing up the side of the road for coming to the rescue and attempting to get everyone safely on their way. Or maybe I was angry at a child and entered their room to discuss a situation and the clock had a 22 on it. Completely changed my demeanor and I slowed down, took a deep breath and sat down to have a conversation calmly where I shared about my anger but didn’t show it. I was very grateful in the moment that 22 shifted what would have been an unproductive conversation to a healthy one. The number doesn’t change my situation but it does change my attitude. Today 22 is a big red light number. For those that know me you know red is my least favorite color. I would rather tell you it is a big blue light number since that is my favorite color. To assign red to a number that represents love and gratitude to me is difficult honestly but that’s the reality. I come to a complete stop when I see it today (it feels blue in my heart but it stops me like a big red stop sign). I look hard at how everything around me feels in that moment. How can I improve this situation? How can I continue to apply love and gratitude at a higher level. I used to see a handful of 22’s over the course of a day. Now I see countless of them. I feel like I’m coming up with gratitudes all day long which makes me feel very blessed. I AM grateful I have a life hack to redirect me and I challenge all of you to join me in this 22 LOVE journey. It’s “easy” once you get started. One of the most powerful things we can say is I AM. What comes behind it is even more powerful. Make sure that any I AM statement you make is followed by grateful. I AM GRATEFUL for… even if its I’m grateful for this shitty lesson life just taught me. Be grateful for it all. It is all your life. The good the bad and everything in between. The trick is to reach 51% of gratitude when in a dark place. The rest is downhill and easier from there. I wish you all see 22 burning bright in your lives and that you can use this life hack for the improvement of your life and the lives of those around you as well! United we stand so lets unite in love and gratitude and let the differences between us fall away!
I AM GRATEFUL FOR AND LOVE ALL OF YOU!!
22 LOVE
Carrie