So many of us have an intriguing attachment to milestones - those dates and numbers which have a special significance to us. I certainly do. We all have personal anniversaries, birthdays, and events that, for one reason or another, have the shine of special importance.
And some of those events shine more brightly than others. More attention is paid to one’s 30th birthday than the 31st. Some people make a big deal of their 20th high school reunion, but don’t even notice the 21st anniversary of graduating from high school.
For some reason, we place a greater importance on numbers ending in zero. The 50th whatever or the 100th thing in a row, like somehow the 50th anniversary of something is more noteworthy than the 51st.
This happens in sports all the time. Much attention is paid to a batter approaching his 300th career home run or his 100th run batted in for the year. Football running backs are celebrated for achieving 1000 yards gained in a season or 100 yards for an individual game. Some fans are disappointed when Stephen Curry scores 49 in a game because he just missed getting 50. As if 50 points in an NBA game is so much better than 49. There must be a reason we perceive these so-called round numbers to be so much more important than other numbers.
I have wondered about my own fascination with milestone numbers and streaks. I have mentioned before in this forum my streak of walking everyday. In fact, when I get a new calendar for the office, on the first day of the year, I write the number of how many consecutive days I have gone for a walk. Then I figure out the milestones (5600, 5700, etc.) and write them in on the appropriate days. I’ll reach 6000 sometime in 2025.
Why do I do this? I don’t know, I just do. These are things that are important only to me. I spend a lot of brainpower thinking about my personal streaks and milestones, but why? I can never come up with a satisfactory answer.
Interestingly (at least to me), I could not possibly care less about milestone birthdays. Turning 30 or 40 meant no more to me than it did to turn 29 or 39, or 31 or 41. The only time I can remember getting excited about a specific birthday in the past few decades, was when I realized I had now qualified for many senior discounts. Yeah, that was a special day.
Milestone numbers are terribly important in sports, obviously, but milestones are acknowledged in other aspects of life, too, especially history. For example, more attention was paid to the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, and the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, than the year before or the year after each of those events. The non-round number anniversaries do not reduce the historical importance of the those events, but that’s kind of how it seems, doesn’t it?
While round number milestones have a special cache, it is true there are quite a few examples of special non-round number milestones, as well. I mentioned Stephen Curry earlier. In 2021 he was approaching a milestone NBA record - most career regular season three pointers. The networks that televise NBA games were enthusiastically hyping Curry breaking the record. And, on December 14, 2021, he hit a three pointer against the New York Knicks. It was his 2974th made three point shot, breaking Ray Allen’s record. They stopped the game and had a big to-do about it.
Eventually, the game resumed, but think about this: a little while later, he hit another three pointer. It was career number 2975, which broke the all-time record held by - well, Steph Curry, set a few minutes before. And, ever since that night, every time he hits a three pointer, he breaks the all-time regular season record for three pointers made in a career. Yeah, so what, you ask?
Uh, well . . . I don’t know what point I’m trying to make here. Obviously, they can’t stop the game and have a ceremony every time he makes a three point shot. That would be repetitive and ridiculous and people would tire of it very quickly. But, the fact is, every time Steph makes a three pointer, he is breaking the all-time record for three pointers made in a career. And, nobody says a word. I just think it is interesting how we decide to celebrate certain moments and not others.Â
Perhaps therein lies an explanation as to why we give such importance to milestones. It is not practical to celebrate, or spend the day in somber remembrance of, every single event or anniversary every single time, but using milestones allows us to acknowledge or remember an event at regular intervals, without disrupting our lives.
Or something like that.
This particular essay represents a significant milestone in the history of The Storm. By Norm. This is the 52nd consecutive week that I’ve posted one of these things. That’s right - one whole year of musings, rantings, and flights of fancy once a week from your favorite Substack pal. Amazing.
When I started The Storm. By Norm, I did not know how often I could do it. I mentioned to my wife that maybe my goal should be to post something every couple of weeks. Did I really have more to say than that? She suggested I should try for once a week and see how it goes. So, that’s what I did, and it seems to have worked out. Obviously, she’s a very bright woman. (No doubt, I should heed her advice more often.)
Anyway, I would encourage everyone to enjoy their personal milestones. Revel in them, have fun celebrating your accomplishments, but, do not let them rule your life. Because, honestly, what true value do they have, except for the value we give them.
