As a kid, my math skills were as worn out as my skateboarding shoes, but life has a funny way of teaching us that numbers do more than just add up.

Growing up, I thought equations were just for chalkboards and test papers, not for mapping our lives. Yet, as I stumbled through adulthood, I realised that life’s essence is often captured in the simplest math. From the pains of disappointment to the quest for inner peace, these formulas are the code of our journeys.

Exploring these equations uncovers the humour & truth in our struggles:

Disappointment = Expectations - Reality.

Doff of the cap to Chip Conley, who inspired this essay. Chip points out that we think too far into the future and build up unrealistic expectations, which saddens us when reality hits home. It's trite, but focus on the journey and not the destination!

Inner Peace = Acceptance of Self / Desire to Please Others

Achieved when your self-acceptance is inversely proportional to your FOMO. HINT: Sit with emotion, meditate & breathe. Tick! Well done, dearest, you aced that one!

True Being = Identity - (Societal Expectations + Family Conditioning + Peer Influences).

Who you are, what you need and what you want - your true essence - results from a complex algebra problem we didn't sign up for in "adulting school." I'm only figuring this out now at 40. HINT: Drop the programming to get this one right!

Love for Others = Self-Love × Understanding:

The more we understand our shit, the more we see others valiantly grappling with their shit, the better we are at extending compassion and love to others. HINT: Once you've put your oxygen mask on, help others do the same!

In conclusion, as we go through life, it's like those crib notes we once slipped into our pockets for a test (not that I'm confessing to anything!), but in life, these helpful hints aren't hidden. They are right there for us to see every day. We don't need to cram or stress. The answers we seek are often right in front of us, waiting to be noticed and understood.